Property rights can be defined physically by rights to the air, surface, water and minerals. When owning multiple physical rights to an area of land, you can sell off whatever rights you would like. Depending on the zoning restrictions of that land, there will be different restrictions for the use of those physical rights. In Manhattan, air rights are highly regulated due to the small volume of land available. The article presented below states that the Archdiocese of New York is in favor of a proposition to change current zoning restrictions in the area.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/archdiocese-new-york-sell-lucrative-air-rights-properties-including-st-patrick-cathedral-article-1.1159272
Currently, the landmarked buildings in Midtown are not allowed to sell their air rights and church officials are lobbying for the ability to sell those rights to any property within their zoning area. This will ultimately increase the value of the air rights for such buildings as St. Patrick's cathedral as they will have more options of potential buyers. The church would then be able to use these proceeds to fund their current renovation if they so choose. Below is a story on the renovation, which mentions that the budget is currently underfunded by $50 million.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/st-patricks-to-undergo-a-three-year-177-million-renovation/
As I am not currently an investor in that area, I do not have a passionate stance on the issue. I do, however, believe in capitalism so if the church can make some extra money, good for them. If I were organizing the renovation myself, I would not begin the process until it was certain the entire budget could be covered.
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