Selling Air Rights

I am meeting with the developer next door, who I know has some interest in my property. I currently have 3000 square feet of unused FAR. I don’t want to sell my property, and I don’t want to sell all of my air rights, but I thought possibly of offering to sell 1000 square feet, which would still leave me with 4000 total square feet of FAR (3900 actually) when or if I ever want to sell my property. I am in Greenwood Heights. Any thoughts on price, strategy, viability, etc? My lot is 25 x 100. Thanks.

webby1000

in General Discussion 8 years and 1 month ago

2

Please log in, in order to post replies!

2 replies

Newest Oldest

Guest User | 8 years and 1 month ago

string(1) "3"
string(6) "195925"

I’ve been involved in a number of these transactions on the developer side, though I’m far from an expert. My understanding is that unless you are in an inclusionary zone and build affordable housing, you can only sell to an adjoining property, so this may be the one chance you get to cash in. Additionally, if you have a frame building, you cannot easily build up on your existing building, so only way to utilize your FAR would be knock down and build a new building. Those two factors give the developer leverage. Your leverage is whatever value your FAR would add to his project. It might be difficult to figure out, especially if he has yet to file plans. If you don’t really need the money, you can play hard ball and ask for a high number. If you would be upset at losing the opportunity to put five or six figures in your bank account, don’t negotiate too hard or he may just walk and you will not likely have any other neighbors offering you anything. My advice is to play nice and it can be a true win-win. Keep in mind that selling FAR entails doing a lot merger and a legal agreement as to who gets what FAR and what each party is allowed to build, so you will need an attorney with experience in these matters to represent you(developer should foot the bill). Good luck!
Btw – are you sure you have that much FAR available? Most of Greenwood Heights is R6B so you would have a total of 5,000 sft of residential FAR.

webby1000 | 8 years and 1 month ago

string(1) "1"
object(WP_User)#4856 (8) {
  ["data"]=>
  object(stdClass)#4853 (12) {
    ["ID"]=>
    string(5) "69163"
    ["user_login"]=>
    string(9) "webby1000"
    ["user_pass"]=>
    string(34) "$P$BPH1TDu6ojoiADfseid9svB1M97nsN1"
    ["user_nicename"]=>
    string(9) "webby1000"
    ["user_email"]=>
    string(16) "nyperh@gmail.com"
    ["user_url"]=>
    string(23) "/forums/users/hoffster/"
    ["user_registered"]=>
    string(19) "2017-08-10 14:29:56"
    ["user_activation_key"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["user_status"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["display_name"]=>
    string(9) "webby1000"
    ["spam"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["deleted"]=>
    string(1) "0"
  }
  ["ID"]=>
  int(69163)
  ["caps"]=>
  array(2) {
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["bbp_participant"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["cap_key"]=>
  string(15) "wp_capabilities"
  ["roles"]=>
  array(2) {
    [0]=>
    string(10) "subscriber"
    [1]=>
    string(15) "bbp_participant"
  }
  ["allcaps"]=>
  array(4) {
    ["read"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["level_0"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["bbp_participant"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["filter"]=>
  NULL
  ["site_id":"WP_User":private]=>
  int(1)
}

Just to make clear, he has bought the two adjacent properties but has not yet filed plans etc for his proposed rental building that will be going up.