Pols Fight To Keep Fashion In The Garment District

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — The city Economic Development Corporation announced a new plan to protect fashion manufacturing space in Manhattan's Garment District. The plan was released Monday, ten months after the EDC delayed a previously-proposed zoning change for the district that was met by opposition from local elected officials and fashion industry businesses.

Through a mix of tax incentive programs, public-private partnerships and targeted rezonings the plan should preserve at least 300,000 square feet of manufacturing space, city officials said Monday. The plan also includes a provision to curb hotel development in the Garment District and is set to begin the public review process on June 11, city officials said.

The new plan was developed by the city EDC in accordance with recommendations made by the Garment District Steering Committee — a group of Garment District stakeholders composed of local officials and businesses. The committee was created by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, who praised the plan Monday.

"The Garment Center's unique ecosystem of skilled workers and specialty suppliers clustered in one place is the foundation that the wider New York fashion world is built on. What we've negotiated here is a real plan to preserve it for years to come," Brewer said in a statement.

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.

Through the IDA program, landlords will receive discretionary tax benefits between $1 and $4 per square foot of manufacturing space between 25,000 and 100,000 square feet, according to city officials. The New York City Industrial Development Agency already has commitments to 300,000 square feet through the program, city officials said.

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

The potentially controversial part of the city's new plan are a set of targeted zoning changes that will actually remove previous manufacturing protections in the district. City officials claim that these protections, passed in the 1980s, have actually failed to protect garment manufacturing businesses in the special-purpose zoning district covering several blocks from West 35th to West 40th streets located west of Broadway.

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. The city's zoning changes also plan to limit the development of hotels in the Garment District by introducing a hotel special permit.

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 chairs of Community Boards 4 and 5 as well as representatives from organizations such as the Council of Fashion Designers of America and the Garment District Alliance endorsed the city's plan Monday.

"After years of effort, we’ve got a plan that will preserve the heart and soul of the city’s iconic Garment District. We still have a long public process ahead of us and I’m looking forward to a collaborative process that includes feedback from all stakeholders, but I am confident that working together we will ensure that New York City remains the fashion capital of the world," Johnson said in a statement.

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