New proposed legislation aims to create a state tax credit to convert vacant office buildings into residential space.
“We must continue to strengthen the core,” said New York state Sen. Pat Fahy, D-Albany. “The core of our urban areas whether that’s Buffalo, Albany, Syracuse and more.”
Fahy said her joint legislation with Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes is a way to make use of office spaces left vacant by COVID-19 remote work protocols in cities like Albany, Rochester, and Buffalo.
“The incentive is a 10% tax credit,” said Fahy. “It would probably be combined in many areas with historic tax credits because some of these are historic buildings.”
Lawmakers said the vacancy rate in some of the downtowns of upstate New York’s major cities ranges from 16% to 28%.
“There’s an affordability crisis, and there’s always going to be one because we don’t have enough units for people to live in,” said Assemblywoman Peoples-Stokes.
In the city of Buffalo specifically, buildings with high vacancy conversion opportunities include the former YWCA, Rite Aid and the former Buffalo News building.
“We should be talking about how we can get this done, and how soon can we do it,” said Peoples-Stokes. “I personally would like to see it happen during the course of this budget process.”
State Assemblymember John McDonald, D-Cohoes, is also co-sponsoring this legislation.
“Converting underused buildings into housing is a practical solution that can bring new residents and economic activity back to cities across Upstate,” McDonald said in a partial statement.
As an example, lawmakers point to the transformation of the former JP Morgan Chase building and Daily News Headquarters conversion in New York City, which resulted in 1,300 apartments.