Theater District Will Get Taller if Not Richer
[NYTimes] 8/06/06
"During the city’s real estate boom, theater owners have started capitalizing on a special zoning arrangement created eight years ago that lets them sell their unused rights to add to their buildings’ height. Developers can transfer these air rights to other sites in the theater district and construct taller buildings than would otherwise be allowed. "
“There was a promise that was made to the theater community and the public, and I think it should be kept, and I think it can be,” Mr. Goldstein said"
"They feared that empty theaters and a paucity of new plays signaled worsening prospects for high-quality drama."
"The city’s response was to change zoning rules in 1998, allowing the owners of 25 Broadway houses to transfer their air rights anywhere within a 34-block zone north of 40th Street between Avenue of the Americas and Eighth Avenue. (Normally, air rights can be transferred only to contiguous building sites.)To transfer development rights from a theater to a distant site, the buyers were required to pay an extra $10 per square foot on top of the regular purchase price for the air rights."
"But until this year, no theater owner had taken advantage of the air-rights provision. In the past eight years, attendance has rebounded"
Few lots in the theater district can accommodate big buildings without a transfer of air rights. So, lately, developers have been knocking on the doors of the theater owners."
"During the city’s real estate boom, theater owners have started capitalizing on a special zoning arrangement created eight years ago that lets them sell their unused rights to add to their buildings’ height. Developers can transfer these air rights to other sites in the theater district and construct taller buildings than would otherwise be allowed. "
“There was a promise that was made to the theater community and the public, and I think it should be kept, and I think it can be,” Mr. Goldstein said"
"They feared that empty theaters and a paucity of new plays signaled worsening prospects for high-quality drama."
"The city’s response was to change zoning rules in 1998, allowing the owners of 25 Broadway houses to transfer their air rights anywhere within a 34-block zone north of 40th Street between Avenue of the Americas and Eighth Avenue. (Normally, air rights can be transferred only to contiguous building sites.)To transfer development rights from a theater to a distant site, the buyers were required to pay an extra $10 per square foot on top of the regular purchase price for the air rights."
"But until this year, no theater owner had taken advantage of the air-rights provision. In the past eight years, attendance has rebounded"
Few lots in the theater district can accommodate big buildings without a transfer of air rights. So, lately, developers have been knocking on the doors of the theater owners."
posted by rjgny2004 at 9:30 AM
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