With office vacancies climbing and a stubborn supply crunch driving up the cost of housing, some downtowns have emerged at the forefront of a new wave of adaptive reuse.

Writing for CoStar News, Jack Witthaus documents the increasing number of office-to-residential conversions—known in planning parlance as adaptive reuse—underway around the United States.
Office-to-residential conversions are occurring nationally as demand for office space fades. One Wall Street, the former home of Irving Trust bank, recently wrapped its five-year, $1.5 billion transformation into a condo building in lower Manhattan. It is now the biggest office-to-residential conversion in the city’s history. In Salt Lake City, Houston-based developer Hines plans to convert the 217,000-square-foot, 24-story South Temple Tower in downtown Salt Lake City into a 255-unit luxury apartment complex. Projects are also in the works in Dallas and Atlanta and in Tacoma, Washington, among other cities.
Witthaus helpfully notes a few states where legislators have passed laws to assist the trend. In California, for example, where the market demand for adaptive reuse is particularly strong, the state’s latest budget included “calls for spending $400 million as an incentive to developers to convert commercial and office buildings into affordable housing in the budget years 2022-23 and 2023-24.” In New York, “Gov. Kathy Hochul signed a bill into law in June to simplify the process to convert some hotels within or near residential zoning districts to operate as permanent residential spaces. These hotel conversions may be eligible for some funding through state grants.”
The article documents many of the challenges facing office-to-residential conversions to help readers make sense of the scale of the potential to address the nation’s housing shortage through adaptive reuse. Challenges include location—office buildings aren’t always located near amenities that would serve residents—and construction issues like making windows operable for residences.
Witthaus also notes that the new office stock in California and the Sun Belt is better suited for adaptive reuse.
The article includes a lot more detail and analysis, including specific numbers on office vacancies in California’s troubled downtown office markets.
FULL STORY: From Los Angeles to New York, Underused Office Buildings Become Apartments Amid Housing Shortage

Amtrak Ramping Up Infrastructure Projects
Thanks to federal funding from the 2021 infrastructure act, the agency plans to triple its investment in infrastructure improvements and new routes in the next two years.

Ending Downtown San Francisco’s ‘Doom Loop’
A new public space project offers an ambitious vision—so why is the city implementing it at such a small scale?

Proposal Would Transform L.A.’s ‘Freeway to Nowhere’ Into Park, Housing
A never-completed freeway segment could see new life as a mixed-use development with housing, commercial space, and one of the county’s largest parks.

Report: Bike Lanes Can't Make up for New Roads
If California wants to meet its climate goals, the state must stop funding its myriad road construction and expansion projects.

Minneapolis Affordable Housing Project Largest in 20 Years
The city opened its first large multifamily affordable housing complex in decades, but a recent court ruling against the Minneapolis 2040 rezoning plan could jeopardize future projects.

NYC Mayor Proposes Eliminating Parking Minimums
Mayor Adams wants to stop requiring off-site parking for new buildings to reduce the costs of construction as part of the ‘City of Yes’ package of zoning reforms.
Urban3
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Washington University
Mpact: Mobility, Community, Possibility
Lassen County Planning and Building Services
City of San Carlos
National Capital Planning Commission
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.