Building Permits in New York City Rise for Sixth Year
Building permits issued in New York City rose for the sixth consecutive year, according to an analysis of data by the New York Building Congress.
Permits authorizing construction rose 156% in Fiscal Year 2015 (July 1, 2014 - June 30, 2015) compared with FY 2014 with 52,618 permits issued for residential units in the just ended fiscal year, according to NYBC analysis of U.S. Census data
The number of permits rose in each of the five boroughs, but Brooklyn experienced a 225% increase with 23,326 dwelling units authorized for construction in FY 2015, compared to 7,181 in FY 2014.
“The Building Congress has long believed that New York City needs to produce at least 20,000 new housing units each year to keep pace with demand and a growing population, but we never thought we would see a year in which that many units would be authorized in one borough alone. The current strength of the Brooklyn market is quite remarkable,” Richard T. Anderson, president of NYBC, said.
Manhattan, with 13,499 permitted units, was second to Brooklyn for the third consecutive fiscal year. Queens was home to 12,326 newly authorized units, followed by the Bronx with 2,753, and Staten Island with 714.
Of the 52,618 permits issued by the Dept. of Buildings in FY 2015, 42,088 were issued from the start of January through June. The NYBC attributes that surge, in part, to the strength of the residential sector, but it also can be traced to the June 15 expiration of New York State’s 421-a tax abatement program and the recognition that even if the program were reauthorized, it would be in a form that was considerably less advantageous to developers of new housing.
