New York & Tri-State | January 28, 2019

NYC Construction May Have Finally Peaked

Construction activity has leveled off following New York’s historic development boom, according to the city’s Department of Buildings. DOB issued a total of 165,988 construction permits in 2018, down from 168,243 in 2017, the first year-over-year decline since 2009.

Although DOB Commissioner Rick Chandler said “the building boom may have finally hit its peak,” DOB noted there’s “still an extraordinarily high level of construction activity in neighborhoods around the city.” The 2018 total, while off Y-O-Y, represents the second-highest on record.

Out of those 165,988 permits—which include both demolition and construction—will come 46 million square feet of new development, DOB says. Forty-three percent of the permits issued in 2018 were for Manhattan activity.

Brooklyn leads the five boroughs for new-building permits: 2,756, or 34% of 2018’s citywide total, according to DOB. The top community board for demolition and major alteration projects is CB 7 in Queens, including Flushing.

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About Paul Bubny

Paul Bubny serves as Senior Content Director for Connect Commercial Real Estate, a role to which he brings 13-plus years’ experience covering the commercial real estate industry and 30-plus years in business-to-business journalism. In this capacity, he oversees daily operations while also reporting on both local/regional markets and national trends, covering individual transactions across all property types, as well as delving into broader subject matter. He produces 15-20 daily news stories per day and works with the Connect team and clients to develop longer-form content, ranging from Q&As to thought-leadership pieces. Prior to joining Connect, Paul was Managing Editor for both Real Estate Forum and GlobeSt.com at American Lawyer Media, where he oversaw operations at both publications while also producing daily news and feature-length articles. His tenure in B2B publishing stretches back into the print era, and he has served as Editor in Chief on four national trade publications. Since 1999, Paul has volunteered as the newsletter editor of passenger rail advocacy groups (one national, one local).