Five other buildings with about 3.5 million square feet received permits before the zoning restriction went into effect June 1.

The most innovative merchants were too busy building in the suburbs to deal with the city's arcane zoning restrictions, high costs and political fights.

Half of the site, he added, will not be developed because of environmental and open-space zoning restrictions.

In response, the developers are suing the city for arbitrary zoning restrictions.

There is also a legal hurdle to the various construction plans because of the existing zoning restrictions in the proposed location for the new buildings.

The one corporation owned all the property so they didn't violate any zoning restrictions.

Development could slow, however, if interest rates rise sharply, land prices jump or denser housing leads to widespread zoning restrictions.

Costs are rising dramatically, the horse farm owners say, and municipal zoning restrictions pose a threat to the value of their land.

He added that the city is also loosening its zoning restrictions in various commercial neighborhoods to help spark future gentrification.

Local zoning restrictions play a major part in creating a professional home office, she said.