Adaptive Reuse
Why Office Conversion is Trickier Than You Think
Converting office buildings to housing is almost always possible, but, thanks in part to design changes in newer office buildings, it can often be cost-prohibitive.
Pittsburgh Adaptive Reuse Program Accepting Applications
The city has issued a request for proposals to support projects converting downtown office buildings to affordable housing.
Santa Barbara Expands ADU Program to Boost Housing
The city hopes that permitting larger ADUs and making adaptive reuse easier will help it meet its state-mandated goal of building over 8,000 new housing units by 2031.
Exxon’s Former Houston Headquarters Could Become a Residential High Rise
The former headquarters of Humble Oil, a predecessor to Exxon, will be converted to apartments in Houston, after New York-based developers CMI Developers purchased the building with a plan for adaptive reuse.
The Once-in-a-Generation Opportunity to Remake Downtown
Urban cores around the country were transforming into live, work, and play destinations before the pandemic. The pandemic was a setback for this transformation, but it could also be a rare opportunity. It’s up to city leadership to seize it.
NYC Mayor Proposes Office Conversion Plan
Proposed zoning updates that would make it easier to convert office buildings in commercial districts to housing and other uses could yield up to 20,000 new housing units in the next decade.
Houston Office Park Continues Adaptive Reuse Trend
The former ConocoPhillips campus, built as a self-sufficient complex complete with a lagoon and fitness center, will be repurposed into a mixed-use waterfront development.
Old San Diego Library to Become Shelter
The long-disused Central Library will accommodate 26 unhoused residents starting later this month.
D.C. Mayor Pushes for More Housing Downtown
Mayor Bowser wants to encourage adaptive reuse of office buildings and bring 100,000 new residents to the downtown core.
Chicago Sears Redevelopment To Include Medical Facility, Housing
Developers have announced details about the long-awaited renaissance of a shuttered West Side Sears store.
Adaptive Reuse No Magic Wand for Post-Pandemic Real Estate Woes
Pre-pandemic housing crisis, meet the post-pandemic office vacancy crisis.
Office Conversions More Popular Than Ever
The adaptive reuse of non-residential buildings has soared in recent years as demand for office space drops and the housing shortage deepens.
How Office Conversions Could Benefit San Francisco
The city could emulate Calgary, New York, and other cities in supporting office conversions as a way to boost floundering downtown economies and provide much-needed additional housing.
Chattanooga Plans to Convert Hotel to Supportive Housing
At a recent meeting, the city’s mayor urged the city council to support the effort to repurpose a derelict hotel into a permanent supportive housing complex.
Adaptive Reuse Booming in Pittsburgh
The city is seeing rapid growth in residential development in its downtown core, signaling a shift to accommodate a reduced need for office space and a renewed interest in mixed-use, transit-oriented neighborhoods.
Austin School District Properties Could Host Affordable Housing
The District is weighing early proposals to include housing units for teachers and staff in the redevelopment of a group of six ‘underutilized’ district properties.
Zoning Changes, Federal Funds Enable Adaptive Reuse Program in Pittsburgh
Funding and zoning changes are likely necessary but insufficient on their own, to borrow a phrase from Nolan Gray. Pittsburgh hopes to deploy both to spur adaptive reuse in the city.
D.C. Could Lead the Downtown Office Conversion Trend
Many urban cores around the country are faced with increasing office vacancies concurrently with a housing affordability crisis caused, at least in part, by a lack of supply. D.C. is particularly primed for a wave of adaptive reuse.
San Antonio Office Tower To Become Residential
With the building more than half vacant, the new owners of the Tower Life Building plan to convert the historic tower into residences that could include affordable housing.
Surveying the Rising Trend of Office-to-Residential Conversions
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.
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
