Office-to-Residential Conversions Might Solve Two Needs with One Deed
I live in Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, and as such I don’t often venture into our city’s downtown. But in recent years I have done so more frequently. These times usually arise when family and friends visit and we might visit sites like The Broad contemporary art museum or the world-famous Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, both of which are located on Grand Avenue, right in the middle of LA's central business district (CBD).
If it wasn’t for the tourists coming to see these attractions, this part of the city would feel quite deserted. Downtown LA, as well as many other CBDs across the country, has suffered from continuous high office vacancies that have had a ripple effect on the businesses that supported the workers coming into the area five days a week. It has left many downtowns struggling with empty buildings and streets.
One potential solution to the problem, and one that could help alleviate the ghost-town feel of many CBDs as well as our country’s chronic housing shortage, could be the conversion of office spaces into residential buildings. Converting these underutilized properties - albeit costly and not always easy - into rental spaces could provide additional housing options.
领英推荐
In cities such as LA and Washington DC, there have already been efforts to try out these conversions. In California, the proposed Office to Housing Conversion Act aims to make it easier to transform office spaces into housing by streamlining the permitting process and addressing local zoning laws.
As many as 2,300 potentially underutilized commercial properties in Los Angeles County could result in between 72,000 to 113,000 rental units, according to a study by the RAND Corporation. This doesn't make a huge dent in the 3.5 million homes needed by 2025 to meet California housing demands. But providing additional rental space through office-to-residential conversions can still make a difference for thousands of people and is worthwhile to explore!
Please click here to read the full story in the Commercial Observer on a very timely topic.
I suspect there are going to be a metric ton of regulatory related issues that will hinder this. But wouldnt it be just grand if we could fix housing inventory AND unutilized/underutilized commercial space.
VP of Product
1 年I'd be interested to know if the units in the converted offices would indeed be classified as affordable housing. It would seem that many of the converted offices may be in locations that would be high demand areas, that would lead to high rental prices. This is a really interesting turn though, and I'm all for it! 4 years ago, no one would have even thought this could be a possibility.