Putting Climate-Friendly Housing on the Fast Track
Mayor Eric Adams of New York City has pledged to deliver 500,000 new housing units by 2032.
With housing at a premium in New York City, Green Fast Track for Housing streamlines the environmental review process for small- to medium-sized residential projects throughout the five boroughs—saving housing developers time and money.
This is a significant initiative of the mayor’s Get Stuff Built strategy, announced in 2022, to address the city’s affordable housing crisis.
Green Fast Track for Housing was approved by the City Planning Commission in March 2024 and took effect in June 2024. The qualifications for eligibility include projects meeting the following criteria:
- Fewer than 250 or 175 residential units depending on the zoning district
- Use all-electric heating instead of fossil fuels for heat and hot water
- Be located outside of vulnerable coastal areas and away from major roads and areas with industrial emissions
- Stand less than 250 feet tall generally and less than 50 feet tall when adjacent to open space, natural resources, or historically sensitive areas
- Meet remediation and attenuation standards for areas with hazardous materials or high ambient noise
Green Fast Track for Housing proposals that require a rezoning will still adhere to the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, commonly known as ULURP.
What Developers Need to Know
In an assessment of prior environmental reviews, the New York City Department of City Planning consistently found that certain housing projects had no negative impacts on the environment. As many as two years of environmental review may be saved through this new initiative while continuing to afford the public an opportunity to participate in the review process.
To determine a project’s eligibility for Green Fast Track for Housing the applicant will need to complete some pre-certification milestones and prepare an eligibility package. This Fast Tracker app can help, and the program is summarized well in this December 2023 presentation.
Green Fast Track for Housing is supported by other initiatives prioritizing solutions to housing demand in New York City. In August 2024, Mayor Eric Adams issued Executive Order 43, “Prioritizing Housing Production and Accelerating the Production of Housing on City Sites,” whereby a new task force will review all City-owned and -controlled land to identify potential sites for housing development.
Learn More From AKRF
We can help housing developers and their partners in a number of important ways related to the Green Fast Track for Housing initiative:
- Strategy planning and early input on how to meet Type II requirements
- Streamlined analyses to support Type II exemptions for ‘borderline’ sites
- Complete in-house capabilities for all CEQR technical areas
- Effective community outreach and engagement strategies
Featured Team Members
Patrick Blanchfield
Vice President, Environmental and Land Use Planning
Linh Do
Senior Vice President, Environmental and Land Use Planning
Lisa Lau, AICP
Senior Vice President, Environmental and Land Use Planning
Deborah Shapiro, QEP
Senior Vice President, Site Assessment and Remediation
Stephen Malinowski, QEP
Senior Vice President, Site Assessment and Remediation