The agency issued a request for proposals Friday, seeking a buyer for up to 350,000 square feet of historic air rights associated with the Fulton Center.
The transit center shares a zoning lot with the Corbin Building, a terra cotta-clad office building built in 1889. landmark in 2015. Together, the two buildings on the parcel are underdeveloped by 358,000 square feet, of which the agency is retaining 8,000 for “future flexibility,” according to the RFP.
The potential pool of buyers will be limited to those who can acquire the rights through a City Planning Commission certification or through a zoning merger of lots with an adjacent site. The RFP specifies that it will not accept offers from buyers whose plans require a special permit or other land use approval.
However, thanks to the City Yes for Housing Opportunity, more potential buyers are eligible. The text amendment relaxed the rules around where important air rights can be transferred and freed many of these deals from the special permitting process. Because of these changes, the square footage can be applied to locations across the street and within the same block of the Fulton Center without the need for a special permit, as long as such a deal does not increase the receiving location’s allowable square footage by more than 30 percent.
Transfers that result in larger projects still require a special permit and therefore must go through the city’s land use review process.
The transfer of air rights has been on the rise since the passage of City of Yes. The real deal previously reported that historic development rights were trading between $180 and $400 per square foot.
Bidders for the Fulton air rights must offer at least fair market value (as determined by the MTA’s independent appraiser) to qualify. The RFP is due March 16, 2026.
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