As the Height of the University Center Decreased so did the Amount of its Air Rights

By Stephany Chung

The New School's ever-largest project - the construction of The University Center on 65 5^th Avenue – initially planned on buying air rights from six buildings, which would have made it the tallest building in Greenwich Village. However, due to economic constraints, the university bought unused development rights, also known as air rights from one of its adjacent buildings.

“Development rights generally refer to the maximum amount of floor area permissible on a zoning lot. When the actual built floor area is less than the maximum permitted floor area, the difference is referred to as ‘unused development rights.’ Unused development rights are often described as air rights,” according to the Zoning Glossary from New York City Department of City Planning.

The University Center will be 16 stories high, 178 feet tall, and add 354,000 square feet to the campus.

The community – New School students and faculty, elector officials, Greenwich Village and Union Square neighbors - accepted this redesigned proposal in 2010.

In 2006, Roger Duffy from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) – an American architect of this architectural firm who designed this building – originally proposed that the university needed to build a center with a height of 350 feet and an area of 500,000 square feet in order to accommodate the school’s growth. The body of the center would have been 300 feet with an additional 50 feet of mechanical systems on top.

“Air rights from up to six other nearby properties would have been piled on top, which likely would have made it Greenwich Village’s biggest building, besting 1 5^th Ave., which is 321 feet tall,” according to The Villager.

Height and size of the original proposal of the University Center in 2006. 

The school needed to scale down because of budgeting issues and SOM put together a more affordable design.

According to Howard Bressler, Senior Director of Real Estate for The New School, the university bought air rights from the building directly to the east of the University Center on 10 East 14^th Street. The Amalgamated Bank occupies the first floor of this adjacent building and the floors above are apartments.

The building of 10 East 14th Street is on the left, east to the University Center.
Courtesy of Google Maps 

According to the Zoning Glossary, this type of development right is called “zoning lot merger.” It is combining two or more adjacent zoning lots into one new lot. Through a zoning lot merger, unused development rights can be transferred from one lot to another.

A diagram of "zoning lot merger." Courtesy of NYC Department of City Planning

The university bought 12,756 square feet and paid $137 per foot - a “reasonable” price that the school negotiated with its neighbors, according to Sam Biederman, Associate Director of University Communications.

The cost of air rights depends on the district the building is located. It is also based on an arms length transaction between the seller and buyer.

Bressler explains the basic air rights policy in Manhattan. In order for a building to purchase air rights, it must share a common lot line of at least 10 feet in length – to the left, right, or behind. If the building is able to buy from one lot, it adjoins the next lot; therefore, it can work its way down the street for additional air rights. However, if one of these buildings in the middle does not want to sell its air space, the building cannot skip lots; it must share a common lot line.

Although the community objected other aspects of the original building plan, Biederman shares how air rights was not one of its major issues.

“There were no significant conflicts in securing air rights.”