We had a Pandemic.
Many would argue we still have a pandemic, and I am not here to take a position. What I am here to do is to post links to current or recent articles about empty commercial towers (people still working from home) converting to residential (because need a bigger home, now that you are working in it).
I’ve looked at this several times (not necessarily posted about it), and the top issues seemed to be large floorplate issues, egress requirements, load requirements, plumbing and electrical requirements and zoning issues more generally. My sister called to chat about it, having heard about it twice on the radio, and with questions revolving around, well, if you had a sink and a toilet, could you share bathing/laundry and would that help. I said those were kinda far down the list of issues, but then looked to see what was going on in DC (nearest Metro to her), and discovered several projects in progress, and tax incentives from the city to encourage more.
Expect edits.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/12/15/dc-office-residential-conversions-downtown/This is the most relevant one I’ve seen and I found it while on the phone.
“Nearly 2.5 million square feet of office space in downtown D.C. is already dedicated to residential conversion projects. But with more than 20 million square feet of vacant office space across the city — a record high — the District is actively encouraging more builders and developers to consider conversions through promises of property tax relief for new office-to-residential projects.”
The article contains some additional details about proposed tax incentives.
This is a Seattle Times version of a NYT article about Backlot making it easy for content creators to use vacant spaces around NYC to create content in:
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/getting-creative-with-vacant-office-space-storage-gym-film-set/That seems temporary at best. Altho, also, wow, that’s a sign of the times.
Hochul, Adams, DSol, Tighe and others agree: need to do something about NYC CBDs.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-14/nyc-aims-to-cut-average-commute-times-to-30-minutes-as-part-of-revival-planThis got picked up at a bunch of other news sites in short form, but the Bloomberg version (probably paywalled) is most detailed.
Finally, people are going, you know, they are not going back into the office. Better do something else with the space. There is a proposal for a new Office of the Public Realm (!!!) in NYC.
Next article after?
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-13/new-york-goes-full-yimby-from-long-island-to-buffaloYIMBY is Yes In My Back Yard
“Meanwhile, if Albany gets it right, the governor’s agenda is bound to fall like a hammer on jurisdictions that want neither apartment buildings nor tenant protections.”
Increasingly, we see people recognizing the lack of supply as a problem in providing affordable housing / dealing with homelessness, and the lack of supply goes straight to NIMBY. The fight begins!
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/09/21/business/boston-explores-converting-office-buildings-into-housing-challenges-abound/Not a lot of options from the 1970s and 1980s for conversion in Boston, because Boston was sleepy for a really really really long time. But there are a few possibilities and they are being explored. Work from home space is a factor in making these bowling alley type units desirable.
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