Air Rights

09/23/24

“How does the law define who owns the air above buildings?”

Buildings may protrude outwards. However, this might interfere with the space above other buildings, limiting the potential for the latter’s development. Whoever has the right to develop is governed by Air Rights. A building’s air right is defaulted to whoever owns a building is geometrically defined as the space completely vertical of the building. In the US this is typically 150 meters above the tallest building in urban/suburban areas and 110 meters for a rural areas.