May 23, 2025

In Just Ten Months, 118 Buildings Representing Roughly 2,600 New Homes Have  
Shown Intent to Apply for the 485-X New Construction Tax Incentive Program   

Early Registrations Show Success Incentivizing New Housing Construction in Outer Boroughs  
and a Significant Increase in Homeownership and Mid-Sized Projects Using the Program   

Early Success for 485-x Follows a Historic Housing Legislative Agreement in  
Albany Last Year and the Passage of the ‘City of Yes for Housing Opportunity’   

NEW YORK – A little more than a year after a historic housing agreement in Albany that included the passage of 485-x, HPD added a new tool to its toolbox that is showing early success in delivering a safe and affordable place to call home for everyone in every borough. Today, after only ten months of being open for applications, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) announced preliminary data and analysis for the 485-x program showing that the program is following through on an Adams administration commitment to make New York City the best place to raise a family.     

As of May 1, early registration data for the program shows promising signs, with 118 individual building registrations of intent to apply to 485-x, representing roughly 2,600 new homes, including approximately 540 income-restricted, rent-regulated, affordable homes. Working in tandem with newly approved zoning changes proposed as part of “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity,” 485-x is proving successful in fulfilling the administration’s goal of building a little more housing in every neighborhoods — with homeowners and smaller buildings in the outer boroughs making up the majority of those expressing interest in taking advantage of the program to build new homes all across the city.   

“New York City faces a generational housing crisis, and the only way out of that crisis is to build more housing,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “We made that loud and clear in Albany last year when the governor and state Legislature delivered a historic agreement to address the housing crisis. Key to that package was replacing the 421-a tax incentive with something new that could deliver deeper affordability and good-paying jobs. With 118 buildings representing roughly 2,600 new homes already showing intent to use to program in just ten months of operation, 485-x is proving to be the tax incentive we needed to keep producing more affordable housing. With the implementation of this program, and the implementation of our ‘City of Yes for Housing Opportunity’ plan underway, we are, once again, proving that this is the most pro-housing administration in the city’s history.”  

“The data is clear: thousands of new homes for New Yorkers are being built as a result of a fruitful public-private partnership” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Adolfo Carrión Jr. “In tandem with City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, we’re unlocking new housing opportunities across our city from deeply affordable homes in Manhattan to new homeownership opportunities in other boroughs.” 

“Every day, New Yorkers are counting on us to tackle the housing crisis head-on,” said Acting Commissioner of HPD Ahmed Tigani. “While it is still too early to draw definitive conclusions from the data we’re releasing today, we are heartened by the early results of the 485-x program. 485-x is helping us build more homes, and we will continue using every tool at our disposal to continue building the housing we critically need.”    

The 485-x program offers property tax exemptions to developers who construct new residential housing with the inclusion of affordable housing or new small rental residential buildings with rent stabilized apartments, serving as a powerful incentive to stimulate residential construction across New York City where we face a historically low vacancy rate and housing shortages. 

By pairing 485-x with the tools made available by the passage of “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity,” including the Universal Affordability Preference (UAP), New Yorkers will see more housing built with deeper affordability than the past iteration of a similar program.  Working in tandem, 485-x and the City of Yes rezoning package is incentivizing more affordable homeownership opportunities in the outer boroughs, driving forward our commitment to building a bit more housing everywhere, and broadening opportunities for deeper affordability in newly constructed affordable housing units.   

As of May 1, the preliminary data shows HPD has received 118 individual building registrations showing an intent to apply to 485-x, representing about 2600 units and approximately 540 affordable units. The program is proving successful at producing deeper affordability levels than its predecessor program. On average, the 540 affordable units will have rents aimed at New Yorkers making 80 percent to the area median income. Thus far, 485-x is also helping build a little more housing in every neighborhood, with an average of less than 25 homes per building for those that have registered thus far. The program is seeing success in the outer boroughs, with more than 40 applications for buildings in both Brooklyn and the Bronx, and more than 20 applications for buildings in Queens. And the preliminary data also shows increased interest in the homeownership option, with 13 projects representing 243 homes intending to apply for the new tax incentive. This is compared to just 8 projects representing 142 units that applied for the previous program’s homeownership option.    

On April 23, 2024, Mayor Adams and New York State Governor Kathy Hochul joined legislative leaders and advocates to announce a historic agreement to address the housing crisis as part of the New York State FY2025 Enacted Budget. This was the most comprehensive housing package passed in Albany in many years, with the deal including many long-sought legislative changes to unlock more housing production and tenant protections. Key pieces of the legislative package included: the 485x Affordable Neighborhoods for New Yorkers Tax Incentive program, which incentivizes the new construction of housing; an extension of the construction deadline for projects vested in the 421-a tax incentive program, the predecessor to 485x which the new program has replaced; new tenant protections, including “good cause eviction” and anti-price-gouging housing measures; the 467-m Affordable Housing from Commercial Conversions Tax Incentive Benefits program, which provides an incentive to convert office buildings into affordable housing development projects; lifting of the cap on the floor-to-area ratio for residential development, resulting in residential buildings being able to include more homes; and approval for a pilot program for legalizing basement and cellar apartments.   

Since the state’s passage of this historic legislative housing package, the Adams administration followed with bold steps to take full advantage of these new programs. Together with the New York City Council, the city passed “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity,” creating new high-density housing districts that take advantage of the 12 FAR cap elimination, creating Universal Affordability Preference to create more affordable units as-of-right, facilitating more office conversions through loosened regulations, and creating the first at-scale potential for accessory dwelling units and other nontraditional housing typologies. The Adams administration has continued to assist office conversion projects through the Office Conversion Accelerator created to aid developers in the conversion process. To date, several in-construction projects have pivoted from fully market-rate business plans to incorporate permanently affordable housing, including the nation’s largest office conversion at 25 Water Street, delivering 330 affordable apartments in Lower Manhattan — the largest delivery of affordable units to come to the area in decades.   

Additionally, the Adams administration launched the Midtown South Mixed Use Plan, a neighborhood rezoning that proposes to map new residential districts for the first time that exceed 12 FAR. Under Executive Order 43 signed by Mayor Adams in July of 2024, the administration launched the City Housing Activation Taskforce (CHAT), with representatives from HPD and other mayoral agencies and public entities charged with accelerating the production of housing on public land. The task force is already taking action to advance several exciting new projects on city-owned land, including HPD’s offices at 100 Gold Street, where over 2,000 new homes will be created just steps away from City Hall, 395 Flatbush in Downtown Brooklyn, which could deliver more than 1,200 homes, and reimagining of Gansevoort Square with 600 units of housing with a goal of 50 percent of total units being permanently affordable, of as well as other locations moving through the pipeline.   

Mayor Adams also launched the “Green Fast Track,” which streamlines the environmental review process for small- and medium-sized residential developments. By cutting up to two years and $100,000 of red tape, Green Fast Track makes it possible to build sustainable housing more quickly, helping the city achieve its climate goals and tackle the housing crisis. HPD completed the rulemaking process for the new 467m and 485x programs within months of the programs being authorized in Albany, opening registration for both programs in January 2025.     

The progress since last year also follows successful 2022 and 2023 legislative sessions in Albany where the Adams administration fought for and won a replacement for the J-51 affordable housing preservation program, the Housing Affordability, Resiliency, and Energy Efficiency Investment Act, and the New York City Public Housing Preservation Trust.   

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