Easing Regulations for Adaptive Reuse

The rise of commercial-to-residential conversions in Los Angeles reveals how easing permitting for adaptive reuse can yield positive results, writes Molly Bolan in Route Fifty. “Last year, the city accounted for 12% of the country’s adaptive reuse projects, creating more than 1,200 units, according to a recent report from Yardi Matrix, a commercial real estate research firm.”

Adaptive reuse isn’t new for the City of Angels, Bolan points out. “Los Angeles adopted its first adaptive reuse ordinance in 1999, making it easier for developers to convert underutilized commercial spaces into housing. The policy helped bring 12,000 residential units to the heart of the city.” In 2003, the city expanded the ordinance to include more neighborhoods outside of downtown, but large parts of the city still fall outside its purview, and only buildings built before 1975 are eligible.

Now, “City officials are looking to change that. A proposed update would expand the ordinance to cover the entire city, as well as reduce minimum unit size requirements and eliminate minimum parking requirements for projects within a half-mile of a major public transit stop.” The proposed update would apply to any building over 15 years old.

Bolan adds another example from a much smaller community: Kissimmee, Florida was home to 6 percent of the nation’s conversions last year, with hotels and motels accounting for a large part of this number. Because of the area’s tourist-commercial zoning rules, “developers don’t have to navigate a rezoning process and aren’t subject to public hearings.”