Rezoning Begins in Earnest in Manhattan's East Midtown

"It’s Z-Day for East Midtown." That's z for zoning, according to the attention grabbing lede of an article by Steve Cuozzo.

The Grand Central-adjacent neighborhood in Manhattan will begin a rezoning process (also described as a "formal land-use review process" by Cuozzo) this week after years of delays.

"Rezoning to allow large, modern new buildings to rise is critical to saving the 73-block district from galloping obsolescence," explains Cuozzo. "Existing buildings, hobbled by ancient infrastructure unsuited to today’s digitally attuned companies, are an average 70 years old, mainly because 1961 zoning rules made replacing them near-impossible."

The article includes more detail about the potential square feet of office space that could be gained in the rezoning, as well as some of the private stakeholders who will take an interest in the project. The New York Department of City Planning also recently completed and posted the draft environmental impact statement [pdf] for the rezoning proposal.