C5 Zoning in NYC: Central Commercial Districts Explained

In C5 the office and community facility numbers climb to 15.00, but housing is held to the R10 limits in every C5 district.

What a C5 district is for

C5 districts are General Central Commercial Districts "designed to provide for office buildings and the great variety of large retail stores and related activities in the central business district and regional commercial centers." Like C6, they also allow amusement, service and production uses typical of a central business district while excluding non-retail uses that generate heavy trucking. The text adds that "special signage regulations are designed to reflect the character of this area" (ZR 31-15).

Three things set C5 apart from C6 in the text: every C5 district uses R10 residential bulk (or R10A for C5-1A and C5-2A), uses must be completely enclosed, and C5 has its own sign regulations (ZR 34-112, 32-411, 31-15).

C5 FAR by district

Commercial FAR: ZR 33-122. Community facility FAR (also the cap on lots with both commercial and community facility uses): ZR 33-123. Residential equivalent: ZR 34-112. Housing FAR: ZR 23-22 (R10, R10A and R10X share one row). * C5-1A and C5-2A are not listed separately in ZR 33-122 or 33-123, so they take the C5-1 and C5-2 numbers under ZR 11-25. ZR 11-122 also lists a C5-P district, which is not covered here. Special purpose districts, notably in Manhattan, modify many C5 numbers.

• No floor area bonuses are permitted in C5-1A and C5-2A, and the general rule caps any bonus at 20 percent above the ZR 33-12 amount unless the Resolution expressly allows more (ZR 33-12).
• Within Manhattan Community Board 7, R10-equivalent commercial districts without a letter suffix are capped at 10.0 FAR (ZR 33-12).
• For residential floor area, plaza and arcade bonuses are not available where the residential equivalent is an R10 district with a letter suffix, which covers C5-1A and C5-2A (ZR 34-221).
• In a mixed building each use stays within its own limit, and the total cannot exceed the greatest FAR permitted for any use on the lot (ZR 35-31).

Uses: offices, retail, housing, enclosed

Uses follow the ten Use Groups in effect since June 6, 2024 (ZR 11-24, 32-00). For C5 the tables show:

• Offices are permitted; laboratories must meet Building Code Section 427 or get a special permit (ZR 32-171, 32-173).
• Residences, including apartment hotels and affordable independent residences for seniors, are permitted (ZR 32-121).
• Hotels need a City Planning Commission special permit under ZR 74-152 for new hotels, conversions and enlargements of 20 percent or more, with listed exclusions (ZR 32-153).
• Retail, entertainment and assembly uses are broadly permitted, with conditions on uses such as theaters and gaming facilities (ZR 32-161, 32-181).
• Production: many light production uses are allowed up to 10,000 sq ft of floor area per establishment on the ground floor, with no limit above (ZR 32-202). Warehouses and trucking terminals are not permitted (ZR 32-191).
• Enclosure: in C5 (as in C1, C6-5 and C6-7), all uses must be in completely enclosed buildings. The only opening allowed is for restaurant storefronts under the City's Permanent Open Restaurants program. In C6 districts other than C6-5 and C6-7, store fronts may open to serve customers outside (ZR 32-411, 32-412).
• Mixed buildings: commercial uses may share floors with homes or sit above them if there is no access between the uses on residential floors; amusement and recreation facilities cannot be above dwelling units, and neither can eating or drinking places outside Manhattan (ZR 32-422).
• Ground floors: because every C5 district has an R10 or R10A equivalent, the ground floor streetscape rules for high-density areas apply outside special purpose districts (ZR 32-351).

Height, setback and towers

• C5 districts without a suffix use the sky exposure plane of ZR 33-432 for commercial and community facility buildings: a front wall up to 85 ft or six stories, whichever is less, then 2.7 to 1 on narrow streets or 5.6 to 1 on wide streets, with initial setbacks of 20 ft (narrow) and 15 ft (wide).
• Towers: in C5-2, C5-3, C5-4 and C5-5 a tower covering no more than 40 percent of the lot may penetrate the sky exposure plane, set back at least 15 ft from a narrow street and 10 ft from a wide street, with more coverage on lots under 20,000 sq ft (up to 50 percent at 10,500 sq ft or less) (ZR 33-451, 33-454). In C5-1 the tower rule applies to community facility buildings (ZR 33-453).
• C5-3 and C5-5 also have alternate tower rules for lots bounded by two or more streets, with tower coverage up to 55 percent of the lot under conditions (ZR 33-455).
• C5-1A and C5-2A have a contextual R10A equivalent, so all buildings follow ZR 23-43: for standard residences, within 100 ft of a wide street, a 125 ft minimum base height, a 155 ft maximum base height and a 215 ft maximum building height (ZR 33-03, 23-432).
• Residential portions in districts without a suffix follow ZR 23-43 for R10: within 100 ft of a wide street, 155 ft maximum base height and 215 ft maximum height for standard residences, 235 ft for qualifying affordable or senior housing (ZR 23-432).

A worked example: 15,000 sq ft lot in C5-2

C5-2 allows 10.00 for commercial, 10.00 for community facility, and R10 housing at 10.00 standard or 12.00 qualifying affordable or senior (ZR 33-122, 33-123, 34-112, 23-22).

• Office tower: 15,000 x 10.00 = 150,000 sq ft.
• Market-rate apartment building: 15,000 x 10.00 = 150,000 sq ft.
• Building with qualifying affordable housing: 15,000 x 12.00 = 180,000 sq ft (ZR 23-22).
• Mixed office and residential building: for example, 60,000 sq ft of offices plus 90,000 sq ft of standard housing, because the total cannot exceed the greatest FAR permitted for any use present, 10.00 x 15,000 = 150,000 sq ft (ZR 35-31).
• Compare C5-3 on the same lot: commercial floor area could reach 15,000 x 15.00 = 225,000 sq ft, but standard housing stays at 150,000 sq ft because the residential equivalent is still R10 (ZR 33-122, 34-112, 23-22).

Parking

No accessory parking is required for commercial or community facility uses in any C5 district (ZR 36-21). For housing, see parking after City of Yes.

C5 zoning FAQ

Related pages

• C6 zoning
• C4 zoning
• Residential equivalents
• UAP explained