Mayor Adams renewed his push to convert office space to residential apartments Monday with a tour of a building now being converted in Manhattan’s Financial District.
In December, Adams and Gov. Hochul announced plans to drastically increase the city and state’s housing stock over the next decade, but much of that plan will rely on changes to state law.
Adams’ tour of the downtown office building comes as lawmakers in Albany are locked in budget negotiations, and the mayor is hopeful those talks will lead to several outcomes when it comes to growing out the city’s housing stock.
Among the changes he wants are the state easing conversion requirements and a renewed tax rebate for developers to incentivize developers to perform the conversions.
An already existing tax break — known as 421a — has already lapsed, but Hochul’s present budget proposal includes an extension for that program for projects that are already underway. The budget does not include a forward-looking version of the program, though, and Adams wants to see one included.