The use group comes first
A loft on Great Jones Street or Lafayette Street can carry a legal status that decides who may live in it. The Department of Buildings' guidance on converting from JLWQA explains that joint living-work quarters for artists are Use Group 17D, defined in section 12-10 of the Zoning Resolution, and may be occupied by artists certified by the Department of Cultural Affairs, members of an artist's household, or people entitled by other law. The same page warns that if a buyer purchases a unit identified for JLWQA use and none of the occupants qualifies, it is considered a violation and may be subject to enforcement. Anyone may occupy the space only after it is converted from Use Group 17D to residential Use Group 2. So the certificate of occupancy is the first document to read, before price or layout, and your attorney should confirm which use group it lists for the specific unit, not just the building.
The rules changed in 2021. On December 15 of that year the City Council approved the SoHo/NoHo Neighborhood Plan. City Planning's summary of the plan as adopted says it replaced all or portions of the M1-5A and M1-5B manufacturing districts with mixed-use districts, established the Special SoHo-NoHo Mixed Use District, and applied Mandatory Inclusionary Housing to it. NoHo is part of that special district. Section 143-13 of the Zoning Resolution now bars any new conversion to joint living-work quarters for artists within the Special SoHo-NoHo Mixed Use District after December 15, 2021.
Two later provisions matter for existing lofts. DOB notes that section 276 of the Multiple Dwelling Law was amended on July 21, 2022, so that a permanent occupant whose residence began on or before December 15, 2021 is deemed to meet the occupancy requirement. The plan also created a voluntary path to convert existing conforming JLWQA use to residential use. For a buyer moving in now, DOB's enforcement warning still applies until that conversion is done.
When the building is under the Loft Board
Some former industrial buildings follow a separate track. The Loft Board explains that Article 7-C of the Multiple Dwelling Law, passed in 1982 and known as the Loft Law, created interim multiple dwellings: former commercial or manufacturing spaces where at least three families lived independently between April 1, 1980 and December 1, 1981. The law was amended in June 2010, June 2013 and June 2015, and the State Legislature amended it again in June 2019. The Loft Board, established under section 282, oversees legalization of these units as rent-stabilized residences, and DOB's guidance says units under its jurisdiction follow the Loft Law instead of the JLWQA route. The Attorney General's Offering Plan Database will also show whether a loft building has a filed co-op or condo plan and what amendments followed it.
Three districts with NoHo in the name
- The NoHo Historic District, designated June 29, 1999. Its boundary begins at the northeast corner of West Houston Street and Mercer Street and runs along Mercer Street, Waverly Place and Broadway.
- The NoHo East Historic District, June 24, 2003, beginning at the northwest corner of the Bowery and Bleecker Street.
- The NoHo Historic District Extension, May 13, 2008, beginning at the northwest corner of Lafayette Street and Bleecker Street and naming Great Jones Street.
Inside these lines, the Landmarks Law requires an LPC permit before work that affects a designated building's exterior, and sometimes its interior. The commission's applications page links to a Permit Application Search, a quick way to see what a building's owners have filed for already.
Inside a converted loft
An apartment carved out of a manufacturing floor is a different object from a flat in a building designed for housing, and the walkthrough follows that. Typical points in any such conversion:
- bathrooms and kitchens added long after the building went up: drain slope, venting, supply lines, and the floor under wet areas where it can be seen;
- electrical service extended across open space, including subpanels and long circuit runs;
- large factory windows and their frames, sills and seals;
- heating and cooling equipment serving the unit, and where its condensate and exhaust end up;
- ceilings, beams and columns for signs of water from the floor above.
The freight elevator, the building's risers, its roof and its fire-protection systems are common elements. They sit outside a unit inspection, as do the board's books and any assessment history; request those through the contract process.
Shared figures and getting there
NoHo falls inside the city's official Greenwich Village planning area, so its housing counts come from that area's tax-lot profile, set out on the Greenwich Village page. Street by street, the 6 train stops at Bleecker St on Lafayette Street and the B/D/F/M trains stop at Broadway-Lafayette St. Flood zones are drawn and redrawn over time, so pull up the exact address at the FEMA Map Service Center before closing.
When the certificate of occupancy, the Loft Board status and the offering plan all point the same way, what is left to settle is the condition of the loft itself.