The adaptive reuse of non-residential buildings has soared in recent years as demand for office space drops and the housing shortage deepens.
With demand for office space remaining low, office-to-apartment conversions continue to lead the adaptive reuse trend at 28 percent of projects, writes Mary Salmonsen in Smart Cities Dive. Hotels are the second largest source of residential conversions at 22 percent.
“Apartment conversions have risen 25% in the two years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 28,000 new units on the market converted from other property types, according to a report from RentCafe.” Of these, more than 11,000 units are in former office spaces, a growth of 40 percent between 2020 and 2021. According to the RentCafe report, “Larger office buildings in abandoned central business districts are better suited to conversion than the often-smaller office complexes distributed around the suburbs.”
Washington, D.C. leads the trend with 5.6 percent of the nation’s total adaptive reuse projects. “Philadelphia gained 1,552 converted units during this period, while Chicago converted older buildings into 1,139 new apartments.” This year, “Los Angeles is leading the nation in adaptive reuse construction for the first half of 2022 with 1,242 new deliveries — already the best year for adaptive reuse in the city’s history — and another 4,130 units in the construction pipeline.”
FULL STORY: Office-to-apartment conversions surge
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
Google Maps Introduces New Transit, EV Features
It will now be easier to find electric car charging stations and transit options.
Ohio Lawmakers Propose Incentivizing Housing Production
A proposed bill would take a carrot approach to stimulating housing production through a grant program that would reward cities that implement pro-housing policies.
Chicago Awarded $2M Reconnecting Communities Grant
Community advocates say the city’s plan may not do enough to reverse the negative impacts of a major expressway.
City of Costa Mesa
Licking County
Barrett Planning Group LLC
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Mpact Transit + Community
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
City of Universal City TX
ULI Northwest Arkansas
Town of Zionsville
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.