Planned multifamily housing units filed with the New York City Department of Buildings reached a 12-year high in March, with Midtown West’s Hudson Yards and Manhattan’s Garment District hosting the largest projects.

Developers filed plans for a total of 11,984 apartments last month, according to a PincusCo analysis. That includes 11,189 units across 137 new building applications and 795 units in 14 conversion projects. 

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The nearly 12,000-unit surge represents the second-highest number of planned units filed in 20 years. The month stands second only to September 2014, when 13,189 planned units were filed with the DOB.

The near-record number represents only planned units, however — an important caveat, as some development plans are abandoned, refiled or ultimately realized with a different number of units.

Two developer submissions took center stage in the month’s applications, namely Hudson Boulevard Collective’s Hudson Yards projects at 548 West 36th Street and 550 West 36th Street, plus a Vornado Realty Trust mixed-use residential tower at 484 Eighth Avenue. 

Hudson Boulevard Collective was formed as a partnership involving BRP Companies, BXP (formerly Boston Properties), the Moinian Group and Urbane Development. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced in late 2024 that the partnership was selected to develop Hudson Yards’ Site K, a state-owned vacant lot adjacent to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.

David Linehan, pre-development and development manager at Moinian Group, was listed as the project owner on the March filing. Plans at 548 West 36th Street include a 1,458-unit mixed-use residential development with affordable housing. The plan marks the project with the largest number of units applied for in March. 

The residential project is slated to rise 70 stories and 954,989 square feet, according to the filing. Listed floors are largely identified as apartments, while others are planned for a museum, a health club and offices. 

The project was submitted last month alongside Hudson Boulevard Collective’s plans for a 300-unit hotel at 550 West 36th Street. 

A 481-unit development at Vornado’s 484 Eighth Avenue site in the Garment District was the second-largest application by units. The mixed-use residential project, planned across 38 stories and 311,864 square feet, was submitted under David Bellman, executive vice president of design and construction at Vornado.

Moinian and Vornado could not be immediately reached for comment.

Emily Davis can be reached at edavis@commercialobserver.com.