C5-2.5 Zoning District — New York City
C5-2.5 is a high-density General Central Commercial District (NYC Zoning Resolution § 11-122) in New York City.
C5-2.5 is a high-density General Central Commercial District (NYC Zoning Resolution § 11-122) in New York City. It allows commercial uses, and generally also housing under the rules of a residential-equivalent district. Under the as of right — narrow street rules, the maximum residential FAR is 10 and the maximum commercial FAR is 12. 179 tax lots citywide carry C5-2.5 as their primary zoning designation.
This designation's land-use file is the most commercial-leaning of any profiled here: just 26% of the roughly 180 lots are recorded as residential, against a commercial and office land use that covers 60% of the group — the highest concentration in this set. Office buildings alone make up 41% of recorded building classes. The median building rises 9 stories, and 60% climb above 6 floors.
What actually stands in this district
This designation records the lowest residential share and the highest commercial concentration of any in this comparison set. Only 26% of the roughly 180 lots are recorded as residential, while commercial and office parcels cover 60% of the land use file — the largest such share among these designations — with mixed residential-commercial parcels recording 23% and public and institutional uses another 10%. Office buildings make up 41% of recorded building classes, ahead of store buildings at 13% and condominiums at 11%. That land-use file, led so heavily by commercial and office use, stands apart from every other designation in this batch, where mixed residential-commercial use is more often the largest single category.
Buildings here run tall: a median height of 9 stories, with 60% of recorded structures rising above 6 floors — among the higher shares in this group. That combination of height and commercial concentration describes a stock built for density on relatively few residential lots, closer in character to the office-led designations elsewhere in this batch than to the more residential ones. A designation this commercially concentrated, at this height, reads as one built for workplace and retail floor area first, with housing recorded on only about a quarter of its lots.
The construction record shows a stock split fairly evenly across eras: a median year of 1930, with 57% of buildings predating 1940, 17% inside the 1945-1975 postwar boom — the highest boom-era share recorded in this comparison group — and 11% built since 2000. No single era approaches a majority on its own, though the prewar share still leads by a wide margin over either of the other two, consistent with a stock whose commercial core was largely built before the modern zoning code existed and has been added to only modestly since.
Lots run to a median of 5,020 square feet, with a 90th percentile of 30,966, and the file counts 6,452 units across the 180 lots — a meaningful total despite the low residential share, again concentrated on a minority of parcels. Recorded floor-area headroom covers 59% of lots, at a median residual of 2.8 FAR, a middling figure among the designations in this batch — neither the widest nor the narrowest gap recorded here.
Flood exposure is absent from the current record at 0% — a fact about the federal flood map as currently drawn, not a claim about what any lot has or hasn't experienced — while just 1% of lots fall inside a designated historic district, so landmark review is nearly absent here. The floor-area and height limits behind that 59% headroom figure are set out, with citations, in the rules tables above, alongside whatever flood or landmark overlay might apply to an individual parcel.
Bulk rules for C5-2.5
| Context | Residential FAR | Commercial FAR | Community facility FAR | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| As of right — narrow streetC5-2.5 — Special Midtown District designation (275 MapPLUTO lots; the 1250 Sixth Ave QA case; spdist1 = MiD). § 81-021 (Last Amended 10/7/2021, raw live HTML 2026-06-12) maps Midtown district C5-2.5 → underlying C5-2, whose HTML-verified rows are cloned at build time. Express FAR modification: § 81-211(a)-(b) table row 'A. Basic Maximum FAR' (Last Amended 8/14/2025), column 'C5-2.5 C6-4.5 C6-5.5 C6-6.5' = 12.0 for non-residential or mixed buildings (overrides C5-2's 10.0). Residential FAR: § 81-241 (Last Amended 12/5/2024) — 'the underlying floor area regulations shall apply' (express override exists only for C5-P), so C5-2's residential 10.0 is inherited unchanged. Yards/height/setback inherited per § 81-021; within Midtown, height/setback are further governed by §§ 81-25 to 81-27 (daylight rules). | 10 | 12 | 12 | NYC Zoning Resolution § 81-021 (C5-2.5 underlying district = C5-2); § 81-211 (basic max FAR 12.0, non-residential/mixed); § 81-241 (residential: underlying regs apply); § 33-122; § 33-123; § 33-25; § 33-26; § 33-43; § 33-432; § 33-451; § 34-112 |
| As of right — wide streetC5-2.5 wide-street context — see the narrow-street row for the full § 81-021 / § 81-211 basis. | 10 | 12 | 12 | NYC Zoning Resolution § 81-021 (C5-2.5 underlying district = C5-2); § 81-211 (basic max FAR 12.0, non-residential/mixed); § 81-241 (residential: underlying regs apply); § 33-122; § 33-123; § 33-25; § 33-26; § 33-43; § 33-432; § 33-451; § 34-112 |
Values from the NYC Zoning Resolution, verified 2026-06-12; site-specific overlays, special districts, and waterfront rules can modify them — run a full lookup for a specific lot.
About commercial districts
Commercial districts allow retail, office, and service uses, and most also allow housing under the rules of a residential-equivalent district. Commercial bulk is governed by § 33- of the NYC Zoning Resolution.
Contextual districts pair their floor-area ceilings with prescribed base and maximum building heights so new buildings mirror existing neighborhood form; non-contextual districts govern the envelope through more general height and setback rules, such as sky exposure planes. Commercial districts also allow residences under the rules of a residential-equivalent district, while manufacturing districts generally exclude new residences. Overlays and special purpose districts can modify any of this on a specific lot.
Example lots zoned C5-2.5
- 1250 Avenue of the Amer — 107,766 sq ft lot, 19.69 built FAR, built 1937
- 345 Park Avenue — 81,337 sq ft lot, 21.05 built FAR, built 1969
- 9 West 57 Street — 62,058 sq ft lot, 27.37 built FAR, built 1971
- 1260 Avenue of the Amer — 184,764 sq ft lot, 14.8 built FAR, built 1932
- 1290 Avenue of the Amer — 89,775 sq ft lot, 21.16 built FAR, built 1963
- 666 5 Avenue — 61,755 sq ft lot, 21.72 built FAR, built 1958
- 399 Park Avenue — 81,325 sq ft lot, 18.77 built FAR, built 1969
- 301 Park Avenue — 81,337 sq ft lot, 14.83 built FAR, built 1930
- 1230 Avenue of the Amer — 142,087 sq ft lot, 13.36 built FAR, built 1939
- 375 Park Avenue — 59,950 sq ft lot, 14.16 built FAR, built 1958
- 57 East 52 Street — 38,314 sq ft lot, 27.78 built FAR, built 1980
- 101 Park Avenue — 52,831 sq ft lot, 20.6 built FAR, built 1982
C5-2.5 — quick questions
- What is the maximum residential FAR in C5-2.5?
- 10, as of right — narrow street, per NYC Zoning Resolution § 81-021 (C5-2.5 underlying district = C5-2); § 81-211 (basic max FAR 12.0, non-residential/mixed); § 81-241 (residential: underlying regs apply); § 33-122; § 33-123; § 33-25; § 33-26; § 33-43; § 33-432; § 33-451; § 34-112. Site-specific overlays, special districts, and waterfront rules can modify it — run a full lookup for a specific lot.
- What is the maximum commercial FAR in C5-2.5?
- 12, as of right — narrow street, per NYC Zoning Resolution § 81-021 (C5-2.5 underlying district = C5-2); § 81-211 (basic max FAR 12.0, non-residential/mixed); § 81-241 (residential: underlying regs apply); § 33-122; § 33-123; § 33-25; § 33-26; § 33-43; § 33-432; § 33-451; § 34-112. Site-specific overlays, special districts, and waterfront rules can modify it — run a full lookup for a specific lot.
- Is C5-2.5 a contextual district?
- No. C5-2.5 is not a contextual district; its building envelope is governed by the district's general height and setback rules rather than a prescribed contextual envelope.
- Is this designation mostly residential or commercial?
- Mostly commercial: only 26% of the roughly 180 lots are recorded as residential, while commercial and office land use covers 60% of the group — the highest concentration among these designations.
- Is this a high-rise or low-rise designation by the record?
- High-rise: a median height of 9 stories, with 60% of recorded buildings rising above 6 floors.
- How is the recorded construction split across construction eras?
- Fairly evenly: a median construction year of 1930, with 57% of buildings predating 1940, 17% from the 1945-1975 postwar boom, and 11% built since 2000.
- How much recorded housing sits on these lots?
- 6,452 units across the 180 lots, despite only 26% of lots being recorded as residential — density concentrated on a minority of parcels.
- What does the flood map show for lots with this designation?
- Little exposure on the current record: 0% sit inside the mapped federal flood zone and just 1% inside a designated historic district.
Keep learning
What do the C5-2.5 rules mean for a specific lot?
PearlAudit resolves the governing zoning for any NYC tax lot — district, overlays, special districts — and cites the Zoning Resolution section behind every rule claim.
District data: NYC municipal records (Department of City Planning) and the NYC Zoning Resolution. See our sources and methodology. Parcel data as of 2026-07-11.