>> Conversion Zone
While we expect funding for incubators to come from a variety of sources, including the City, we propose the creation of a "Conversion District" to generate revenue for manufacturing retention in Lower Manhattan. The Conversion District concept turns one of the primary threats to manufacturing: market demand for residential and commercial conversion of manufacturing space, into an advantage.
Map: Conversion District, Garment Center, and incubator sites |
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The proposed Conversion District will replace current M1-6A/B zones located in the SoHo neighborhood north and west of the Study Area. Under the current regulations, the M1-6A/B zones only allows residential conversion for live-work artists quarters. Today, there is a high demand for residential conversion in this area, as evidenced by the number of illegal conversions of loft space to purely residential use. The Conversion District recognizes the fact that the current zoning does not correspond with current market demand, nor does it reflect the current use in the area.
In the Special Conversion District, all conversion restrictions will be removed and building owners will be allowed to convert to residential uses as of right. In order to convert their property, owners will pay a conversion fee. The fee will be based on the amount of floor area converted. This fee will goes towards manufacturing retention in the form of incubators and zoning enforcement in the Chinatown Garment Center. All current illegal residential conversions will be allowed to remain, but the owner must legalize the residence. But the owner will have to pay a conversion fee to be in compliance.
The amount of the contribution should be high enough that it provides sufficient funding for incubators and zoning enforcement. However, it should not be too high that it discourages residential conversion from taking place. Given the profitability of loft apartments in SoHo, fees can realistically be high enough to provide substantial funding to protect manufacturing in Chinatown. Revenue generated from the conversion district should go directly to either to a City agency or non-profit organization(s) for the sole purpose of protecting and developing manufacturing in Lower Manhattan.
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The Conversion District is outside the boundaries of the Chinatown Study
Area, but the loss of manufacturing space in Manhattan is a problem that
is not defined by neighborhood boundaries. This proposal recognizes that
preserving manufacturing uses in SoHo is a lost cause. However Chinatown's
available manufacturing infrastructure and large pool of laborers, make
it a prime area in which to relocate manufacturing uses in Lower Manhattan.
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