FAR in Zoning Calculation
What is FAR in Zoning Calculation?
In this post, I want to talk about FAR or Floor Area Ratio
FAR is the specific number allocated to the zone where your property is located in.
(If you want to get any information about zoning and how it work, I recommend you to check this first and then get back to FAR for further information)
When you decide to design a plan, the first step that you have to take is to find out zoning information, after that, you can use the FAR number to understand how much maximum floor area you can build or even if you have an existing building and you decided to do enlargement (Alteration type 1)
You need to provide the existing condition layout and find out how much the existing floor is and how much you can add to this because if your proposed design, for any reason goes more than the maximum FAR, your job cannot get DOB approval and it was just a waste of time and energy
As I mentioned before, to be able to provide an acceptable design, you need to do zoning research, then you can find out your FAR number, then multiplied by your total land square foot number = which gives your maximum floor area
For instance, if you have vacant land in Zoning District: R6B, F.A.R is 2.00 and your land is 20’ x 100’ which means in total you have 2000 sq. ft. land.
2000 (your land) x 2.00 (R6B F.A.R) = 4000 sq. ft. is the maximum floor area that you can build
But for any zoning calculation, research, and analysis, I strongly recommend you to do deep research about it, because in NYC most of the time it’s not as easy as what it shows
If you want to check the zoning and start your research, there is a great website that you can use by just typing your address, then your property’s information shows up
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