New York City has 3 types of zoning districts: Commercial, Residential, and Manufacturing. In most cases you can develop a residential building in a commercial zoning district.
Can you build a residential building in a commercial zoning district in NYC?
In most cases you can build a residential building in a commercial zoning district in New York City. The majority of commercial zoning districts have a Residential District Equivalent zone, with a few exceptions. These equivalent zones are for residential use in a commercial district.
Commercial And Residential Zoning
You can build mixed use buildings in Commercial Zoning Districts with a Residential Equivalent. Alternatively you can build a commercial building or just residential.
This article does not address Commercial Overlays which are commercial use in Residential Zones. A commercial overlay is different from a residential equivalent.
Zoning Districts starting with a C are Commercial Zoning Districts for Example C6-1 Zoning.
Zoning districts starting with an R are Residential Zoning districts for example R7-1 Zoning.
Hotels are governed by Commercial Zoning to see what zoning districts allow hotel take a look at a post on Hotel Zoning Districts in NYC.
Here is a list of commercial zoning districts in NYC and their residential equivalents. Only commercial zoning districts with residential equivalents are listed.
RESIDENTIAL DISTRICT EQUIVALENT IN COMMERCIAL ZONES
| Commercial Zoning District | Equivalent Residential Zoning District |
|---|---|
| C1-6 | R7 |
| C1-6A | R7A |
| C1-7 | R8 |
| C1-7A | R8A |
| C1-8 | R9 |
| C1-8A | R9A |
| C1-8X | R9X |
| C1-9 | R10 |
| C1-9A | R10A |
| C2-6 | R7 |
| C2-6A | R7A |
| C2-7 | R9 |
| C2-7A | R9A |
| C2-7X | R9X |
| C2-8 | R10 |
| C2-8A | R10A |
| C3 | R3-2 |
| C3A | R3A |
| C4-1 | R5 |
| C4-2 | R6 |
| C4-2A | R6A |
| C4-3 | R6 |
| C4-3A | R6A |
| C4-4 | R7 |
| C4-4A | R7A |
| C4-4D | R8A |
| C4-4L | R7A |
| C4-5 | R7 |
| C4-5A | R7A |
| C4-5D | R7D |
| C4-5X | R7X |
| C4-6 | R10 |
| C4-6A | R10A |
| C4-7 | R10 |
| C4-7A | R10A |
| C5-1 | R10 |
| C5-1A | R10A |
| C5-2 | R10 |
| C5-2A | R10A |
| C5-4 | R10 |
| C5-3 | R10 |
| C5-5 | R10 |
| C6-1 | R7 |
| C6-1A | R6 |
| C6-2 | R8 |
| C6-2A | R8A |
| C6-3 | R9 |
| C6-3A | R9A |
| C6-3D | R9D |
| C6-3X | R9X |
| C6-4 | R10 |
| C6-4A | R10A |
| C6-4X | R10X |
| C6-5 | R10 |
| C6-6 | R10 |
| C6-7 | R10 |
| C6-8 | R10 |
| C6-9 | R10 |
Residential in Commercial Zoning NYC
As an architect I study zoning. In this post we covered a few issues with regards to residential equivalent zoning in commercial districts. This post does not assume to cover every possible situation, nor substitute the NYC Zoning Resolution.
Residential Equivalent Zoning
As an architect, I study Building Codes and Zoning Codes closely, but these are complicated and quite involved issues. In this article, we reviewed some of the basic concepts with regards to Residential Equivalent Zoning. This post does not assume to cover every possible issue or condition, but provide a general overview of the topic.
Thank You for reading our blog post on Residential and Commercial Zoning.
Feel free to leave questions and comments below. If you would like to speak with an architect about a project please feel free to contact us directly.
This post was written by Jorge Fontan AIA a Registered Architect and owner of New York City architecture firm Fontan Architecture. Jorge Fontan has earned 3 degrees in the study of architecture including two degrees from the City University of New York and a Masters Degree in Advanced Architectural Design from Columbia University. Jorge has a background in construction and has been practicing architecture for 20 years where he has designed renovations and new developments of various building types.
