Queens is suddenly the star of New York's construction story. New filings for Q4 2025 show a sharp jump in proposed building across the city, with the Real Estate Board of New York's latest New Building Construction Pipeline report clocking 511 filings that would add roughly 19.1 million square feet and nearly 14,000 multifamily units. It is a big break from recent norms, and on square footage and multifamily units, Queens comes out on top.
According to a report from REBNY, the 511 new building filings logged in Q4 2025 are expected to add about 19.1 million square feet, which the group notes is roughly 50% above the historical average, and represents a 7% increase over the previous quarter. Total proposed square footage is up 201% compared to Q4 2024, while multifamily unit filings jumped 225% year over year. REBNY says it compiled the figures from Department of Buildings job-application filings.
How the filings break down
As detailed by the New York Real Estate Journal, 202 of the quarter's filings were for buildings that will contain multiple dwelling units. Within that slice, there were 110 projects with fewer than 50 units, 67 projects between 50 and 99 units, four projects between 100 and 149 units, and 21 filings for buildings with 150 units or more. The report also flags six proposed 150-plus-unit buildings in Wage Zones A and B using the 485-x program, which comes with higher wage and affordability obligations for developers.
What REBNY is saying
"Q4 2025 saw significant overall and multifamily-specific proposed new construction," said Basha Gerhards, REBNY's executive vice president of public policy, in the group's announcement. The release points to 13,982 multifamily units filed in the quarter, a figure nearly 200% above the historical average and 19% higher than in the prior quarter. REBNY says it plans to keep a close eye on whether this spike signals durable momentum that can actually deliver housing at scale.
Why it matters for housing targets
The report notes that the 13,982 units filed in Q4 2025 exceed the 13,147 units-per-quarter pace that planners say is needed to hit the city's goal of 500,000 new homes by 2034, a benchmark highlighted in coverage of the release. That puts the quarter above the target pace on paper, but advocates and city officials are quick to point out that filings are just the opening move. Many proposals never make it to permits, financing, or shovels in the ground.
So the next test is straightforward and far less glamorous: do these filings turn into permits and actual construction, especially for the larger Queens projects subject to the prevailing wage and affordability rules tied to 485-x. REBNY has signaled it will keep digging into what is behind the surge, while developers and city agencies sort out how many of these proposed units can realistically be built. For now, the message from Q4 2025 is clear enough: filings are up, but turning those plans into real homes is where the hard part starts.
