Downtown Floor Area Ratio

The floor area ratio is one of those little tools that get put into the zoning code mix generally employing a mix of maximums and minimums to ensure a proper goldilocks size and to shape.

Downtown floor area ratio.

The higher the far generally speaking the more intensity of use on the lot. The terms can also refer to limits imposed on such a ratio through zoning. The floor area ratio of a 1 000 square foot building with one story situated on a 4 000 square foot lot would be 0 25x. Floor area ratio or far is a measure of development intensity expressed as the ratio of gross building floor area to site area.

A two story building on the same lot where each floor was 500 square feet. Zoning bonuses to increase the size of individual downtown construction projects are allocated through a higher floor area ratio far which reflects the total square footage of the building divided by the area of the lot. For example if a 10 000 square foot building occupied a 20 000 square foot site its far would be expressed as 0 50 indicating that there is 1 square foot of building area for each two square feet of land area. Far is expressed as a decimal number and is derived by dividing the total area of the building by the total.

The floor area ratios are set forth by nyc planning in the zoning resolution zoning code. The floor area ratio is the deciding factor in finding out the maximum buildable floor area. The successes of the tfar program in los angeles can be attributed to the underlying height district in downtown s central business district. Download original report pdf grant of power for the purpose of promoting health safety morals or the general welfare of the community the legislative body of every municipality is hereby empowered to regulate and restrict the height number of stories and size of buildings and other structures the percentage of lot that may be occupied the size of yards courts and.

As a formula far gross floor area area of the plot. Floor area ratio is a way of expressing the relationship between the size of the lot to the floor area of the buildings on the lot. Additionally far ends up kind of being another way of keeping score. Because the base floor area ratio far is set fairly low there is a strong demand among developers for unused floor area.

Far is the reason why buildings with the same size lot but in different zoning districts can be drastically different in size. Floor area ratio far is the measurement of a building s floor area in relation to the size of the lot parcel that the building is located on.