Borough President Backs Garment District Rezoning

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Borough President Gale Brewer will back the city's plan to rezone the Garment District in order to protect manufacturing space for the fashion industry.

The Manhattan Borough Board voted Thursday morning to approve the city city Economic Development Corporation's plan, which proposes a mix of tax incentive programs, public-private partnerships and targeted rezonings to preserve at least 300,000 square feet of fashion manufacturing space.

"As a whole, this plan will preserve a core of manufacturing in the area for years to come," Brewer tweeted Thursday. "[Thank you] to the Garment Center Steering Committee for your work!"

The EDC's Garment District plan was revealed in early June and certified for public review within a week, but the city had long sought a solution for the loss of manufacturing space in the special-purpose zoning district covering several blocks from West 35th to West 40th streets located west of Broadway. The city's initial plan was put on hold in August 2017 after the Garment Center Steering Committee — a body of local stakeholders and politicians assembled by Brewer — released a list of rezoning recommendations for the city to follow.

The central provision of the new plan is the Garment Center IDA program, a tax incentive through the New York City Industrial Development Agency which allows landlords to benefit from offering long-term leases to fashion manufacturers. Landlords can cash in on the incentives by offering 15-year leases at $35 per square foot to any business involved in the garment production supply chain such as pattern-making, embroidery an dyeing, according to the EDC.

The city will also allocated $20 million to acquire a facility in the Garment District for dedicated production space, officials said. The city will operate the space through a public-private partnership with a nonprofit organization.

The contentious aspect of the city's new plan are a set of targeted zoning changes that will actually remove previous manufacturing protections in the district. The protections, created in the 1980s, have actually failed to protect garment manufacturing businesses in the district, city officials claim. The city proposes keeping existing manufacturing and commercial zoning in the district while lifting a restriction that requires building owners to adhere to a 1:1 ratio of garment manufacturing space compared to space for other uses.

Garment manufacturers and officials such as Brewer and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson opposed lifting the restriction last year, but have dropped their opposition now that the plan is paired with the IDA and the city's investment in a dedicated production space.

The City Planning Commission will be the next body to vote on the EDC's plan for the Garment District in the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure. The City Council will have the final vote.

Photo by Kevin Foy/REX/Shutterstock