A growing number of developers are considering converting empty office towers into housing as part of an effort to revive struggling downtown business districts that emptied out during the pandemic
Reviving Downtowns
In January, Pittsburgh announced it was accepting proposals to produce more affordable housing through the “conversion of fallow and underutilized office space.” Boston released a plan in October aimed at revitalizing downtown that included a push for more housing, some of which would come from office conversions. And Seattle launched a competition in April for downtown building owners and design firms to come up with conversion ideas.
But the conversion push has some skeptics. Housing advocates worry that the affordable housing requirements could get watered down. And even advocates of the conversion model say giving tax breaks to wealthy developers isn’t the best tool to achieve the goal. Jordan Woods, a 33-year-old federal government contractor, moved to an apartment in downtown Washington in 2019, attracted in part by the appeal of being able to walk to work. He said he was able to find dependable stores and restaurants that stayed open at night, but then the pandemic came and downtown became “like a moonscape” for more than a year.
“A lot of those services simply aren’t available right now in small city downtowns or mid-sized city downtowns, you know, they close up at night,” D’Aprix said. “The ability to really take our outdated office stock in the city is a true win-win because we not only shore up the office market, given the vacancy rates that we are seeing, but we also help reactivate our business districts, which really suffered right during the pandemic,” Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer said.
“What you saw was the fastest growing residential neighborhood in the city,” said Ross Moskowitz, a partner at the Stroock & Stroock & Lavan law firm who specializes in real estate, land use and public-private partnerships. “All of a sudden, you just saw strollers and dogs, so obviously that means that people are not just coming to work. They’re actually coming to stay.”
There also can be environmental issues, said Anoop Davé, the CEO of Victrix, a real estate investment management development company specializing in converting mostly vacant office buildings into residential buildings and hotels. “A lot of these buildings could have asbestos or something like that. That is not necessarily a deal killer but sometimes the cost or remediating is so large that even if you are given it for zero, it doesn’t work.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
Similar News:Vous pouvez également lire des articles d'actualité similaires à celui-ci que nous avons collectés auprès d'autres sources d'information.
Americans Escaping Pricey Cities Bring Higher Housing Costs, Inflation With ThemRising housing costs and elevated inflation in growing, warm-weather metros such as Tampa reflect people migrating out of the Northeast and Midwest to the Sunbelt
Lire la suite »
SEAN HANNITY: This is what happens when Democrats rule your cities and statesFox News host Sean Hannity shares example after example of lawlessness running rampant in American cities in Friday's opening monologue.
Lire la suite »
New study names 3 Texas cities among the least sustainable in the U.S.The Alamo City also landed at No. 64 on list but got demerits for its high level of excess fuel consumption. Texas environment Sustainability SanAntonio SATX SanAntonioTX
Lire la suite »
Bay Area Cities Celebrate Earth Day with Trash Pick-Up EventsCities across the Bay Area held clean-up events to celebrated Earth Day on Saturday, allowing volunteers to both pick up little and build community with their neighbors.
Lire la suite »
5 Real Housewives Cities That Got Rejected By Bravo'Whatever casting we did, it wasn’t right and we haven’t gone back to do more' (via toofab)
Lire la suite »
In two states, gun violence pits blue cities against red legislaturesThe back-to-back mass killings in Southern states have illuminated the gaping chasm between the priorities of Democratic cities and their Republican-led states.
Lire la suite »