More than 500 building projects stalled in NYC

New York is known worldwide as the city that never sleeps. Howver, while recent numbers indicate the recession's grip is loosening, that's not the case when it comes to construction in the Big Apple. Work has now halted on 515 mostly residential properties across the city's five boroughs.
Brooklyn has been hit hardest according to analysis by the city's Department of Buildings www.nyc.gov inspection records. Forty-six percent of the stalled projects citywide are in Brooklyn according the New York Building Congress, which conducted the analysis. Northern Brooklyn neighborhoods such as Williamsburg and Greenpoint, which had seen a housing boom in the years leading up to the market collapse, have the most stalled projects, making up 30 percent of the 237 sites in the entire borough. Queens ranks second in the city, with 140 stalled sites, 27 percent of the total.
"The Brooklyn and Queens numbers are not shocking," said Richard Anderson, Building Congress president. "That is where all the action was."
Since the city DOB began tracking stalled construction sites weekly in July, the total has increased by 30 percent. Since construction tends to lag behind other sectors in a recession, the numbers aren't expected to worsen because there simply aren't many new projects in the ground. "You need them to get started before they can be stalled," said Anderson.
In Manhattan, 80 projects were listed as stalled, up 40 percent from July 26, with 14 percent of those stalled projects in the neighborhood of Turtle Bay-East Midtown. Elsewhere in the city, stalled sites more than doubled in Staten Island to 34 over the past three months, while the tally in the Bronx remained steady at 24.
"To have all these sites just sit there is not encouraging. They do not generate jobs and tax revenues," said Mr. Anderson. "There is a great deal of construction activity throughout the city that can hopefully be unleashed with the right kind of programs."
Recently, the city passed a law that allows developers to renew building permits at stalled sites for up to four years after they expired if they submit comprehensive site safety plans to the DOB. The program is designed to help developers restart projects without having to go through lengthy permitting process. At least half a dozen developers have submitted their plans under the new law and are awaiting approval so they can become eligible for the permit renewal, according to a DOB spokesman, noting that it could not be determined when approvals will be made.
"The program is certainly a step in the right direction," said Mr. Anderson. "In the midst of this credit crunch, we need a lot more incentives like tax credits, zoning modifications and land use changes to jumpstart these stalled projects."
Edited by Sarah Wolfe
Source: Crains New York http://www. crainsnewyork.com" target="blank">www. crainsnewyork.com
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