Residents of SoHo and NoHo’s artist live-work apartments are asking the United States Supreme Court to overturn a recent 6-1 decision from New York judges attaching over $250,000 in fees to many of their lofts when selling or passing them down to family.
The fees stem from a 2021 city rezoning plan, which, in its current form, requires just over 1,600 loft residents to obtain a city permit to turn their artist live-work spaces into residential apartments if they want to sell or pass them down to family. However, it attaches an $100 per square foot fee, to be paid into a city Arts Fund, to those permits. For lofts that frequently exceed 2,500 square feet, residents say that adds up fast
