Construction activity in New York City is outpacing year-over-year totals, with new building filings increasing 19% in the second quarter over Q2 2021 levels.
That’s according to the most recent REBNY data released this week, which showed that new total building filings, proposed construction square footage, filings for projects exceeding 300,000 square feet and proposed multiple dwelling units on job filings in the city were all up year-over-year.
There were 422 new building filings in Q2, a 19% uptick over Q2 2021 but 39% below Q1 2022 data. However, REBNY officials note that last quarter saw the largest number of filings in any single quarter since the fourth quarter of 2014. In addition, 11 such filings had a proposed total construction square footage in excess of 300,000, seven more than in Q2 2021.
The same goes for total proposed construction square footage overall: the number of filings fell compared to Q1 2022, but nonetheless posted “solid” gains year-over-year. Proposed construction square footage in Q2 2022 totaled 15 million square feet, a 36% decrease over Q1 but still far in excess of historical averages and up 69% year over year. The proposed square footage is also 35% higher than the median since Q1 2008, when REBNY first started tracking the data.
About 3.4 million square feet were in Manhattan, representing 22% of the citywide total, while Brooklyn dominated with the largest share of proposed square footage at 37%. Brooklyn also experienced the largest number of filings of any borough with 122, a 45% gain year-over-year.
“The second quarter of 2022 continued to show the strength of the City’s construction and development sectors,” said REBNY President James Whelan. “To continue this progress, the city and state must create more tools to offset costs for sorely needed housing and implement zoning changes to enable the redevelopment of some under-utilized office and hotel space.”