Air rights are unused development potential above an existing building, which is controlled by the property owner.

In NYC, Air Rights are incredibly important to developers as they allow them to expand their buildings and build what they wouldn’t have been able to before purchasing air rights. All buildings have a certain amount of buildable square footage, also known as FAR, which is pre-determined by the zoning district the property falls under. A property in R6 zoning is allowed to build up to 2.20 FAR, so anything built under 2.20 FAR would be sellable Air Rights.

Air rights can be the most valuable asset for some property owners who are not interested in developing their properties anymore. They are allowed to sell the air rights to developers who do. There are a few scenarios in which owners can sell their air rights, first they can sell to properties that touch their property for 10 feet. Now under City of Yes, owners of landmark properties can sell air rights to any lot located on the same block, any lot located directly across the street from that block, or any lot located at the next intersecting street or intersection.

Many owners assume that air rights are only important if they decide to build upon their properties more. But they can be a great way for property owners to turn their unused building capacity into money

Example: A building is currently built to 4,000 sqft, but is allowed to be built up to 10000 sqft per its zoning regulations. The property owner could sell 6,000 square feet of Air Rights.