Despite city and state incentives, officials expect the program will result in a modest number of new housing units.
A new Seattle city law reduces development requirements for office-to-residential conversion projects, reports Ysabelle Kempe in Smart Cities Dive.
Average residential rents grew by 32 percent between 2012 and 2022, while Seattle’s office vacancy rate jumped to 25 percent earlier this year, up from 5 percent in 2019. “The law, signed by Mayor Bruce Harrell on Thursday, allows developers who convert buildings to housing to skirt design development standards and avoid requirements to include affordable housing.”
The city’s Office of Planning and Community Development says it expects the law will result in ‘less that a dozen’ projects over the next seven years that could produce 1,000 to 2,000 housing units due to the challenges of adaptive reuse.
Goals of the adaptive reuse program, according to the city, include a “more balanced use mix of housing and commercial uses in downtown,” avoiding long periods of building vacancy, and the revitalization of downtown neighborhoods.
FULL STORY: Seattle encourages office-to-residential conversions with new law
With Zero Office Conversions in Four Years, San Francisco Pins Hopes on New Special Financing District
City leaders hope the new incentive will spur the redevelopment of some of the city’s 30,000 square feet of vacant office space into housing.
California Law Would Streamline Adaptive Reuse Process
A bill passed by the state senate would ease the permitting process for office conversions in central city neighborhoods.
Legislation Introduced to Support Adaptive Reuse of Federal Buildings
The proposed bill would promote the conversion of vacant and underused buildings into affordable housing.
The state-sanctioned urbicide of Austin
People don’t kill cities. Freeways do.
US to reduce Colorado River water deliveries to Mexico
A new Colorado Treaty amendment reduces Mexico’s Colorado River water allocation by 250,000 acre feet.
New Jersey’s second-largest city bans standalone data centers
Jersey City will continue to allow co-location facilities, such as those meant for research institutions that store their own data.
Amtrak not solely to blame for New Jersey commuter rail's unreliability, report finds
A new study from the Garden State Initiative found that NJ Transit’s budget grew 20% across a 4 year period, but reliability declined significantly over the same period.
EPA erases limits on planet-warming pollution from power plants
Under Monday’s plan, power plants would still have some limits on how much mercury, arsenic and other contaminants they can emit.
Phoenix announces new on-demand transit service, more frequent RAPID buses
Both new services will launch in October, and are part of Phoenix's Project Effective Access Solutions for Easing Congestion.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association