Adaptive Reuse

View of the National Biscuit Company Building, 1850 Industrial Street, Los Angeles from the corner of Mateo Street. It has been renovated into lofts, with a restaurant on the ground floor.

Paper Series Sheds Light On Adaptive Reuse

A series of reports from Berkeley's Terner Center assess the potential of commercial-to-residential conversions to help ease the housing crisis.

November 23, 2021 - Terner Center for Housing Innovation

A vacant department store in Coolidge, Arizona.

Looking to Vacant Retail Spaces for Needed Housing Supply

The Phoenix City Council has taken the first steps toward zoning reforms that can balance out the oversupply of retail spaces at one end of the market and the lack of housing units at the other.

November 8, 2021 - AZ Central

Zoning map of Winnipeg, Canada, 1947

Opinion: Outdated Zoning Codes Stifle Growth and Development

Strict separation of uses may be an inefficient way to zone dynamic modern cities.

October 13, 2021 - The Market Urbanism Report

The backboar of a basketball hoop is painted orange with the words "orange Mound"--the name of a historically black neighborhood in Memphis, Tennessee.

Memphis Targets Adaptive Reuse of Historic School for Neighborhood Benefits

A plan to rehabilitate the vacant former location of Melrose High School in Memphis' Orange Mound neighborhood "recalls many other recent initiatives aimed at elevating and investing in Black urban history."

September 1, 2021 - Bloomberg CityLab

Single-Family Housing Development

This Washington City Quietly Eliminated Single-Family Zoning

Walla Walla's 2018 zoning reforms included adaptive reuse, reduced parking requirements, and more relaxed rules for accessory dwelling units.

August 5, 2021 - The Urbanist

Empty Parking Garage

Converting Unused Parking Garages to Affordable Housing

As garage operators find their businesses increasingly unsustainable, some are looking to affordable housing as the logical next incarnation of their buildings.

July 14, 2021 - Smart Cities Dive

Pencoyd Iron Works and Marriott hotel under construction.

Walkable Waterfront Takes Shape on the Schuylkill River Near Philadelphia

The Pencoyd Landing development is focused on providing access to pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users in the neighborhood of Lower Merion Township, across the Schuylkill River from Philadelphia.

June 16, 2021 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

McDonald's building, New Hyde Park, Long Island

America's 'Most Beautiful McDonald's'?

The Long Island restaurant is housed in a historic 18th century farmhouse.

April 30, 2021 - Inman News

Downtown Detroit

How Easy Is it to Repurpose Offices into Apartments?

Adaptive reuse is a hot concept, but regulatory and financial hurdles have made it slow to catch on in practice.

April 28, 2021 - Slate

End of the Mall

Can Mall Redevelopment 'Urbanize the Suburbs'?

Local leaders in Virginia are banking on mall redevelopment projects to revive their tax bases and create more mixed-use neighborhoods.

April 2, 2021 - The Virginia Mercury

Architecture Awards

2021 Pritzker Prize Awarded for French Duo's Social Focus

The 2021 Pritzker Prize, considered the highest annual honor in architecture, has been awarded to a French couple who prioritize kindness in their designs.

March 16, 2021 - NPR

Downtown Boise

Boise Using Adaptive Reuse to Convert Offices to Affordable Housing

Under the city's Grow Our Housing program, vacant offices could see a new life as below-market rentals.

February 19, 2021 - NextCity

Manhattan, New York City, New York

Kicking Commercial-to-Residential Conversions Into High Gear

A plan included in New York Gov. Andre Cuomo's draft 2022 budget will make it easier to do adaptive reuse for new housing in New York City.

January 22, 2021 - The Real Deal

Subdivision

CNU Report Outlines Incremental Steps for More Walkable Suburbs

Transforming suburban sprawl is a massive undertaking, but these small steps can help communities understand their needs and assets and develop clear, actionable goals for the future.

January 21, 2021 - CNU

Rebuild Foundation

Creative Placemaking a Boon for Underserved Communities, Report Says

The work of Chicago urban planner and developer Theaster Gates provides a proof of concept in a new report from the Urban Land Institute.

October 5, 2020 - Chicago Tribune

Brooklyn, New York City

Adaptive Reuse More Popular Than Ever, Study Says

The past decade saw more old commercial buildings transformed into residential buildings than any decade previous.

September 29, 2020 - RentCafé

New York Manhattan Chinatown

Opinion: Upzone Now to Improve Commutes in the Post-Lockdown Future

Building more housing where people work is a simple way to come out of the pandemic with a stronger sense of community and shorter commutes, according to this article.

August 11, 2020 - City and State New York

Delmar Loop

Defunct Hospital to Transform Into a Home for Neighborhood Investment in St. Louis

A truly ambitious, and thoroughly innovative development, project in St. Louis will adapt a former hospital facility to house numerous nonprofit and neighborhood investment organizations.

August 5, 2020 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Communicative Arts Academy: Rebuilding Compton for Artists and Community Life

In the 1960s-70s, a group of artists called the Compton Communicative Arts Academy renovated buildings across Compton and transformed vernacular, underutilized structures into venues for and objects of art.

April 29, 2020 - KCET Artbound

Brooklyn Open Space

What Is Adaptive Reuse?

Key to urban revitalization or harbinger of gentrification—whichever way you look at it, adaptive reuse has been a key development type in the transformation of U.S. cities throughout the 21st century.

January 22, 2020 - James Brasuell

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.

Community Development Director

City of Wisconsin Rapids

Professor of Urban Planning

Harvard University Graduate School of Design

Transportation Planner I

KFH Group Inc.

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