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During the recent planning process for his ultratall luxury condo tower slated for East 58th Street, developer Joseph Beninati noticed that a unique feature of the project captured the imagination of prospective millionaire buyers. Using drones to survey the site's views, Beninati and his development team found that above about 700 feet, the units provide not only views of Manhattan stretching out to the south, he said, but also dramatic vistas of the Atlantic Ocean 14 miles away.
"It was really a pleasant surprise for us that this will be the first supertall tower with ocean views," said Beninati, who runs real estate development firm Bauhouse Group. "Every foot of the building's height enhances that view."
Like a long list of other developers in recent years, Beninati wants to raise the tallest tower he can--a spire that could reach as high as 1,000 feet. To attain such dizzying heights, Beninati plans to use a trick gaining in popularity among his peers: building apartments in the sky by not constructing as many down below.
The approach offers a clever interpretation of the regulations that govern how many square feet of livable space can be built on a development plot. Rather than using those precious square feet on lower, less-desirable floors, builders are jacking up the heights of their mechanical spaces, which don't count toward their allotted square footage, allowing them to start their residential units higher up. The result is like putting a skyscraper on stilts.
"Mechanical space simply isn't counted toward zoning floor area," said Mitch Korbey, a land-use attorney with Herrick Feinstein. And...