NYC New Construction Report 2024: Permit Activity Slows, But Projects Grow Larger
In 2024, New York City logged 2,744 building permit applications, totaling over 71 million square feet of new space and nearly 53,000 planned housing and hotel units. This represents a decline from 2023, when more than 4,300 permits were filed.
Permit activity peaked in January but stayed under 300 per month afterward, marking a cooldown from the late-2023 surge.
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| Downtown Stock photo by Vecteezy |
By Borough
Queens led in overall filings, followed by Brooklyn, Staten Island, The Bronx, and Manhattan. Most boroughs saw declines, with the steepest drop in Staten Island (down more than half), while Queens was the only borough to rise slightly.
Unit Counts
The city recorded over 52,000 planned units, a 7% dip from 2023. Brooklyn was the only borough to grow, with nearly 22,000 units, while Staten Island’s numbers collapsed by over 70%. Developers showed a shift toward fewer but larger-scale projects, with small homes falling sharply and mid- to high-rise filings gaining share.
Building Heights
Low-rise structures still made up the bulk of filings, but several tall towers stood out: a 68-story tower on Madison Avenue, a 60-story skyscraper in Downtown Brooklyn, and multiple 30–40 story proposals across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. Average height per filing rose slightly to just over four stories.
Floor Area
While smaller projects declined across the board, filings for larger buildings grew, keeping total square footage nearly steady with 2023. Brooklyn and Manhattan both expanded their share, while Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island contracted. The year’s largest project by size was a 1-million-square-foot development in Downtown Brooklyn.
Overall
Although permit numbers fell citywide in 2024, the data suggests a pivot toward bigger and denser projects, with Brooklyn and Manhattan leading in both unit count and floor area, and Staten Island experiencing the sharpest slowdown.