According to a New York Building Congress analysis of U.S. Census data the New York City Department of Buildings had a 180 percent increase of residential building permits from 2014 to 2015. The Department approved 56,528 residential units in 1,998 buildings in 2015, compared to the 20,329 units in 1,513 buildings that were permitted in 2014. The number of permits issued in 2015 was more than three times the 2013 total, when just 18,095 permits were issued, and nearly ten times the City’s post-recession low of 6,057 units in 2009. This marks the sixth consecutive year in which the number of permitted residential units has risen from the prior year.
Overall, New York City’s five boroughs saw major increases in the volume of residential permits. In Brooklyn, 26,026 residential permits were issued , up from 7,551 in 2014, while in Queens, the number increased from 4,900 in 2014 to 12,667. Similarly, Manhattan permits jumped from 5,281 in 2014 to 12,612, and the Bronx from 1,885 to 4,682. Permits for residential units in Staten Island, which perennially produces the least amount of new housing, fell from 712 permits in 2014 to 541 in 2015.
“The number of residential permits issued in New York City last year was nothing short of epic, and you don’t reach an amount that large without a number of factors working in the City’s favor,” said New York Building Congress President Richard T. Anderson. “In this case, we had developers who applied for permits at the end of 2014 in advance of pending changes in the building code. Likewise, the pending expiration of the 421-a program created an urgency to get permits approved in late spring. That said, there’s no denying that the increases are also a direct result of New York City’s remarkable popularity among residents, businesses, and investors.”
