What is the maximum residential FAR in C6-4.5?

10, as of right — narrow street, per NYC Zoning Resolution § 81-021 (C6-4.5 underlying district = C6-4); § 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 C6-4.5?

12, as of right — narrow street, per NYC Zoning Resolution § 81-021 (C6-4.5 underlying district = C6-4); § 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 C6-4.5 a contextual district?

No. C6-4.5 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.

Does housing dominate the lots here, or something else?

Not housing — only 38% of lots are classified residential, while office buildings account for 25% of the recorded classes.

Do any lots here carry a vacant-land classification?

Yes — 7% of lots carry a vacant-land classification on record.

Do these lots carry any recorded flood-zone exposure?

No — 0% of these lots sit inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area.

C6-4.5 Zoning District — New York City

C6-4.5 is a high-density Restricted Central Commercial District (NYC Zoning Resolution § 11-122) in New York City.

C6-4.5 is a high-density Restricted 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. 246 tax lots citywide carry C6-4.5 as their primary zoning designation.

This designation is mapped across roughly 250 tax lots, and its recorded buildings are taller than most: a median of 7 stories, with 51% rising above 6 floors — a majority. Only 38% of lots are classified residential, office buildings account for 25% of the recorded classes, and the records count 11,609 homes on the lots that are residential.

What actually stands in this district

Roughly 250 tax lots carry this designation on record, and the buildings on them run tall: a median height of 7 stories, with 51% of recorded buildings rising above 6 floors — more than half the recorded stock. That height sits on a base that is mostly prewar in origin: 75% of buildings predate 1940, with a median construction year of 1920, while 7% date from the 1945-to-1975 boom and 13% from 2000 or later.

Use here tilts away from housing: only 38% of lots are classified residential, and office buildings account for 25% of the recorded building classes, with condominium classifications at 11%. By land use, commercial-and-office use covers 48% of lots, mixed residential-and-commercial use 35%, and a recorded 7% of lots carry a vacant-land classification. Even so, the records count 11,609 homes across the designation's roughly 250 lots, a sizable population despite the minority residential share. That imbalance — height and population running ahead of residential share — shows up clearly across the same roughly 250 lots.

Lots run to a median of 5,020 square feet, with the 90th percentile reaching 16,275. Neither of the two overlay checks common to these pages turns up much here: 0% of lots carry a recorded historic-district designation, and 0% sit inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area — readings about the current official maps, not a guarantee for any one address. The absence of both figures at once is a plain reading of the maps as they stand, not a claim about the age or condition of any particular parcel.

On the development ledger, 70% of lots record floor area below their allowance, with a median residual of 4.7 FAR — a real gap on a stock that already runs to a median of 7 stories. That residual, at 4.7 FAR, is a meaningful share of unbuilt capacity for a stock already built this tall. The rules tables above carry the governing FAR and height figures with their citations, and a specific lot's recorded floor-area and vacancy status is held at the individual parcel level throughout the file.

Coverage is complete across every stat family recorded for this designation, with nothing nulled out. That matters here because the designation combines a majority-tall stock, at 51% of buildings above 6 floors, with a minority residential share of just 38% — a pairing worth checking lot by lot rather than assuming holds evenly across all 250 lots on record. Each lot's own recorded class and floor-area detail is tracked at the individual tax-lot level.

Bulk rules for C6-4.5

Context	Residential FAR	Commercial FAR	Community facility FAR	Citation
As of right — narrow streetC6-4.5 — Special Midtown District designation (272 MapPLUTO lots; spdist1 = MiD, a few in DB). § 81-021 (Last Amended 10/7/2021, raw live HTML 2026-06-12) maps Midtown district C6-4.5 → underlying C6-4, 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 C6-4's 10.0). Residential FAR: § 81-241 — underlying regs apply, C6-4's residential 10.0 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 (C6-4.5 underlying district = C6-4); § 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 streetC6-4.5 wide-street context — see the narrow-street row for the full § 81-021 / § 81-211 basis.	10	12	12	NYC Zoning Resolution § 81-021 (C6-4.5 underlying district = C6-4); § 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 C6-4.5

1166 Avenue of the Amer — 59,873 sq ft lot, 20.12 built FAR, built 1975
112 West 34 Street — 36,340 sq ft lot, 22.19 built FAR, built 1954
7 Dekalb Avenue — 113,202 sq ft lot, 10.04 built FAR, built 2011
100 Willoughby Street — 34,336 sq ft lot, 24.47 built FAR, built 2014
9 Dekalb Avenue — 46,367 sq ft lot, 13.31 built FAR, built 2021
44 West 47 Street — 24,000 sq ft lot, 20.31 built FAR, built 2009
7 West 34 Street — 34,098 sq ft lot, 12.64 built FAR, built 1910
138 Willoughby Street — 21,474 sq ft lot, 24.71 built FAR, built 2017
132 West 32 Street — 22,080 sq ft lot, 21.46 built FAR, built 2005
589 Fulton Street — 27,530 sq ft lot, 20.53 built FAR, built 2023
31 West 34 Street — 27,950 sq ft lot, 9.86 built FAR, built 1912
569 Lexington Avenue — 32,273 sq ft lot, 9.54 built FAR, built 1961

Browse all 246 lots zoned C6-4.5 →

C6-4.5 — quick questions

What is the maximum residential FAR in C6-4.5?: 10, as of right — narrow street, per NYC Zoning Resolution § 81-021 (C6-4.5 underlying district = C6-4); § 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 C6-4.5?: 12, as of right — narrow street, per NYC Zoning Resolution § 81-021 (C6-4.5 underlying district = C6-4); § 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 C6-4.5 a contextual district?: No. C6-4.5 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.
What is the typical building height in this designation?: A median of 7 stories, with 51% of recorded buildings rising above 6 floors.
Does housing dominate the lots here, or something else?: Not housing — only 38% of lots are classified residential, while office buildings account for 25% of the recorded classes.
Do any lots here carry a vacant-land classification?: Yes — 7% of lots carry a vacant-land classification on record.
Do these lots carry any recorded flood-zone exposure?: No — 0% of these lots sit inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area.

Keep learning

What do the C6-4.5 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.

Run a free lookup See plans

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.