The Quality Housing Program was established in 1987 to help maintain the architectural character of New York City neighborhoods. The program includes rules concerning height, bulk, lot coverage, street line and more. Quality Housing is mandatory in contextual R6-R10 districts, but only optional in non-contextual R6-R10 districts.

Under what circumstances would a non-contextual building voluntarily opt-in to Quality Housing?

More FAR

FAR in non-contextual R6-R10 Districts depends on height factor. Unless a building has an incredibly high height factor, most buildings in R6-R10 get more FAR under Quality Housing. Contrast the FAR allowances between non-contextual residences in Section 23-151 with those of Quality Housing residences in Section 23-153.

Corridor Floor Area Deduction

Quality Housing grants two corridor deductions from total floor area. Section 28-14 allows a 50% deduction of corridor floor area if there is a 20 square foot window in the corridor. Section 28-31 allows a 50% deduction if the dwelling units served by the corridor are less than the allowance in the section’s table. For instance, if a building in an R8 unit has a corridor serving 10 units or less, 50% of the corridor’s floor area is deductible.

Recreational Floor Area Deduction

Quality Housing mandates the inclusion of recreational space as a percentage of residential floor area. For instance R6 and R7 districts are required to include 3.3% of the residential floor area be recreational area. Section 28-21 states that no more than the required amount of recreational space in the table shall be excluded from the definition of floor area. Recreational areas can include space like gymnasiums, a popular building asset exempt from floor area.

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