M3-1 Zoning District — New York City
M3-1 is a high-density Heavy Manufacturing District (Low Performance) (NYC Zoning Resolution § 11-122) in New York City.
M3-1 is a high-density Heavy Manufacturing District (Low Performance) (NYC Zoning Resolution § 11-122) in New York City. It allows industrial and commercial uses; new residences are generally excluded. Under the as of right — narrow street rules, the maximum commercial FAR is 2. 2,418 tax lots citywide carry M3-1 as their primary zoning designation.
This is the largest designation by lot count in this batch: roughly 2,400 tax lots citywide, more than any other district profiled here. Only 8% of these lots are recorded as residential, yet the file counts 13,715 units in total — the largest recorded housing count in this comparison set, concentrated onto a small residential share. Warehouses lead the recorded building classes at 29%, and 35% of lots sit inside the mapped flood zone.
What actually stands in this district
Scale sets this designation apart immediately. Roughly 2,400 tax lots citywide carry it — more than any other designation covered in this batch — which means the percentages below describe a genuinely broad, citywide pattern rather than a small sample. As with several of the larger industrial designations in this file, no reliable year-built or height coverage exists here, an absence worth stating plainly across a file this size rather than filling in with an estimate, since a gap this broad shapes what can honestly be said about the designation as a whole.
The recorded building classes lean industrial and open: warehouses lead at 29%, vacant land follows at 16%, and garages add 14% — a stock dominated by storage and open ground rather than office or residential construction. Land use tracks the same pattern, with industrial and manufacturing use covering 43% of the file, vacant land another 17%, and transportation and utility use 14% — three use categories that together describe most of the file, leaving relatively little room for the office, retail, or purely residential uses that dominate elsewhere in this batch.
Only 8% of these roughly 2,400 lots are recorded as residential — a small share by percentage — yet the file counts 13,715 units in total, the largest recorded housing figure among the designations in this batch. That combination describes a small number of residential parcels carrying an outsized share of the recorded housing, likely concentrated in a handful of larger buildings rather than spread evenly across the file, a pattern that recurs, at smaller scale, on several of the other designations covered here.
Lots run to a median of 16,500 square feet, with the largest on record reaching 196,857 square feet — sizable ground consistent with industrial assemblage. The federal flood map places 35% of these lots inside the mapped Special Flood Hazard Area, a meaningful share at this scale, though a statement about the regulatory boundary rather than a record of actual flooding. None of the lots, 0%, carry historic-district status on record, closing out a file whose defining feature, across every measure it does track, is simply its size.
Bulk rules for M3-1
| Context | Commercial FAR | Manufacturing FAR | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| As of right — narrow street§ 43-12 lists M3 (no subscript) at FAR 2.0; CF FAR not set by § 43-122; slope 2.7:1 narrow / 5.6:1 wide. | 2 | 2 | NYC Zoning Resolution § 43-12, § 43-25, § 43-26, § 43-43 |
| As of right — wide street§ 43-12 lists M3 (no subscript) at FAR 2.0; CF FAR not set by § 43-122 in M3; slope 2.7:1 narrow / 5.6:1 wide. | 2 | 2 | NYC Zoning Resolution § 43-12, § 43-25, § 43-26, § 43-43 |
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 manufacturing districts
Manufacturing districts allow industrial and many commercial uses; new residences are generally excluded. Manufacturing bulk is governed by § 43- 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 M3-1
- 5120 Avenue U — 905,000 sq ft lot, 2.65 built FAR, built 1970
- 45-45 Center Boulevard — 88,746 sq ft lot, 12.96 built FAR, built 2011
- Arthur Kill Road — 5,140,080 sq ft lot, 0 built FAR
- 4-75 48 Avenue — 71,806 sq ft lot, 9.54 built FAR, built 2006
- 55 Water Street — 80,795 sq ft lot, 4.85 built FAR, built 1900
- 4002 2 Avenue — 223,374 sq ft lot, 5.93 built FAR, built 1911
- 4610 Center Boulevard — 56,547 sq ft lot, 8.56 built FAR, built 2012
- 47-20 Center Boulevard — 48,199 sq ft lot, 9.9 built FAR, built 2007
- 2-01 50 Avenue — 18,500 sq ft lot, 21.38 built FAR, built 2000
- 980 East 149th Street — 516,183 sq ft lot, 1.91 built FAR, built 2022
- 1280 Ryawa Avenue — 623,000 sq ft lot, 0.68 built FAR, built 2003
- 47-05 Center Boulevard — 57,944 sq ft lot, 12.06 built FAR, built 2007
M3-1 — quick questions
- What is the maximum commercial FAR in M3-1?
- 2, as of right — narrow street, per NYC Zoning Resolution § 43-12, § 43-25, § 43-26, § 43-43. Site-specific overlays, special districts, and waterfront rules can modify it — run a full lookup for a specific lot.
- Is M3-1 a contextual district?
- No. M3-1 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.
- How many tax lots are zoned M3-1?
- 2,418 tax lots citywide carry M3-1 as their primary zoning designation, per NYC municipal records as of 2026-07-11.
- How many lots carry this designation?
- More than any other designation in this batch: roughly 2,400 tax lots citywide.
- What kind of building stock does this designation cover?
- Mostly industrial and open ground: warehouses lead the recorded building classes at 29%, vacant land at 16%, and garages at 14%, with industrial and manufacturing land use covering 43% of the file.
- Does this designation include housing?
- A small share by lot count but a large one by units: only 8% of lots are recorded as residential, yet the file counts 13,715 units in total.
- Are lots with this designation in a flood zone?
- A meaningful share: 35% of these lots sit inside the mapped federal flood zone, a statement about the regulatory map rather than a record of actual flooding.
Keep learning
What do the M3-1 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.