De Blasio Unexpectedly Announces Start Of SoHo Rezoning Plan

SOHO, NY — Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday that the SoHo/Noho Neighborhood plan to rezone a larger portion of the Lower Manhattan neighborhood will advance into the city's public land use review process.

The proposed rezoning in SoHo would allow for as many as 3,200 new homes to be built in the historically business-centric community, including around 800 affordable housing units.

The rezoning project would cover an area bounded by Canal Street to the south, Houston Street and Astor Place to the north, Lafayette Street and the Bowery to the east, and Sixth Avenue and West Broadway to the west.

"New York City has changed a lot in the last fifty years, and SoHo and NoHo have changed with it," de Blasio said in a news release. "Thoughtful, progressive zoning changes will pave the way for the next fifty years of growth — while making two iconic neighborhoods more accessible than ever, and helping us rebuild a fairer and better city."

The Department of City planning also has a section on its website explaining why the specific Lower Manhattan neighborhood was chosen to rezone.

"The population and economic conditions in SoHo and NoHo have drastically changed since the neighborhoods were zoned as manufacturing districts and unique zoning rules were established there nearly five decades ago," the website reads. "Existing rules that prohibit housing and prioritize the area for industrial use do not address the growing housing needs, especially affordable housing, and landscape of modernized industries and new modes of retail and commercial space we see today."

However, not everyone is happy with the city's unexpected announcement that the SoHo/NoHo rezoning project is full steam ahead.

"Local community groups slammed the surprise announcement by the city today of a planned upzoning of SoHo and NoHo, saying the community advisory group which was supposed to review all proposals for changes in the neighborhood had not been convened by the City since well before COVID," the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation said in a news release.

"And the plan, purporting to promote affordability, would actually create much more super-luxury housing in huge, out-of-scale high rises," the Lower Manhattan community group added.

Mayoral candidates Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, and Scott Stringer, the city comptroller, recently announced their support for rezoning SoHo.