The ‘dough’ in the sky of NYC real estate development is typically how much total floor area a zoning lot or assemblage of lots will allow according to the New York City Zoning resolution. Answers to development questions are not ‘cut and dry’ because decisions must be made on interpretations of the mammoth 3,917 page document.
This development process can be extremely confusing especially when teams increase in size. There are at least 150 different design decisions or variables defined by the NYC Zoning Resolution that effect a typical building enclosure. In a development each one of these variables can have a dozen or more possible interpretations and possible zoning solutions. Getting everyone to agree on this titanic set of rules, including the regulating authorities is an immense challenge.