Adaptive Reuse
New Jersey affordable housing requirements spur infill development across the state
A 50-year-old law continues to reshape development around housing goals.
Madison approves hundreds of affordable apartments as deadline for federal funding looms
A recently approved project will bring 163 affordable units to the north side.
LA approves $2B 'urban village' plan for former cold storage facilities
The project promises an interconnected neighborhood with a focus on public space.
Office conversion is picking up steam in San Francisco
The city spent five years streamlining approval processes and reducing fees to encourage more adaptive reuse of vacant office buildings.
NYC building scare highlights the complexity of adaptive reuse
A near-collapse at the former Pfizer headquarters raised concerns about the office-to-housing project.
Vacant downtown LA office building will be transformed into 512 affordable homes
The World Trade Center will create hundreds of new apartments with rents starting as low as $937.
Historic Newark building to become affordable housing
The century-old building will be converted into nearly 200 homes with ground-floor retail.
NYC's Flatiron Building lights up for the first time as it undergoes transformation to apartments
The 1902 skyscraper, one of the world's earliest, is being retrofitted as luxury homes.
California's hotel-to-housing program put 13,500 people into homes
A CalMatters analysis evaluates the success of the state's pandemic-era homeless housing program.
Church-to-housing trend grows in Southern California
Many faith leaders are eager to support housing construction on church land.
School-to-housing Conversions are the Fastest-growing Sector of Adaptive Reuse
In 2024, former schools were redeveloped into almost 2,000 apartments.
Co-living ‘Microapartments’ Cost Half as Much to Build as Typical Studios
In 10 major U.S. metros, an analysis found that converting office buildings to small co-living units could dramatically cut the costs of construction.
Historic Bank in Pittsfield, Massachusetts to Become Mixed-income Housing
The bank redevelopment project is part of a $140 million state affordable housing initiative.
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.
Milan’s Olympic Athletes’ Village is Designed for Reuse
This year’s athlete housing is designed specifically to be repurposed as student housing after the games.
1960s Salt Lake City Tower Transformed Into 217 Luxury Housing Units
The new Seraph building may herald a new era of adaptive reuse in downtown Salt Lake City.
Planetizen’s Top Posts of 2025
The most-read articles on Planetizen in 2025.
From SoHo to SoDoSoPa
How zoning made great neighborhoods illegal to build, and preordained gentrification.
SoCal Hotel to Become 98 Housing Units
A shuttered Carlsbad extended stay hotel offers an opportunity to quickly bring close to 100 new housing units on the market, including 15 affordable apartments.
Developer Transforms Historic LA Mortuary Into 122 Senior Housing Units
The former Pierce Brothers Mortuary served as a church before being partially destroyed in a fire in 2018.
Pagination
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.
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
KFH Group Inc.
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello