Buying air rights NYC

[Benny]

I'm considering buying air rights in NYC with a partner in a new development venture. It appears that buying air rights or new development rights in NYC really comes down to the floor area calculation, or FAR calculation (see reference article below).

However, I'm sure there are lots of nuances where an architect or attorney familiar with buying air rights in NYC will come in handy. For example, I noticed while playing around with the NYC Planning website zoning tool ZoLa (https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/) that the max FAR comes with a lot of likely caveats. For example, Residential R6 zoning (https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/z...-tools/r6.page) has a commonly known max FAR of 2.43. However, from the language on this page it doesn't seem so simple:

Buildings developed pursuant to height factor regulations are often tall buildings set back from the street and surrounded by open space and on-site parking. The floor area ratio (FAR) in R6 districts ranges from 0.78 (for a single-story building) to 2.43 at a typical height of 13 stories; the open space ratio (OSR) ranges from 27.5 to 37.5. Generally, the more open space, the taller the building.

Any general advice or words of wisdom from a sponsor or developer who has gone through the process of buying air rights in NYC before?

[lower_nyc]

I'm considering buying air rights in NYC with a partner in a new development venture. It appears that buying air rights or new development rights in NYC really comes down to the floor area calculation, or FAR calculation (see reference article below).

However, I'm sure there are lots of nuances where an architect or attorney familiar with buying air rights in NYC will come in handy. For example, I noticed while playing around with the NYC Planning website zoning tool ZoLa (https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/) that the max FAR comes with a lot of likely caveats. For example, Residential R6 zoning (https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/z...-tools/r6.page) has a commonly known max FAR of 2.43. However, from the language on this page it doesn't seem so simple:

Buildings developed pursuant to height factor regulations are often tall buildings set back from the street and surrounded by open space and on-site parking. The floor area ratio (FAR) in R6 districts ranges from 0.78 (for a single-story building) to 2.43 at a typical height of 13 stories; the open space ratio (OSR) ranges from 27.5 to 37.5. Generally, the more open space, the taller the building.

Any general advice or words of wisdom from a sponsor or developer who has gone through the process of buying air rights in NYC before?

I am interested in in this topic as well. A friend's apartment building was recently approached by a developer who offered them $1m for 3,000 sqft of air rights. They ended up trying to negotiate for more money and the entire deal collapsed. It's really hard to find information about the topic of air rights sales in NYC.