With many employees refusing to return to the office, more and more developers are looking at old workplaces to turn them into apartment complexes.
American metropolises are facing two crises at the same time: housing shortages and vacant office buildings leaving local businesses deprived.
But researchers say office conversions could revitalize central business districts and increase housing availability across the country.
One of the buildings being transformed is 55 Broad Street in Manhattan’s Financial District, which used to be home to Goldman Sachs.
It will be converted into 571 apartments and will feature a rooftop swimming pool and coworking spaces.
In Washington, the former State Department building was converted into an apartment complex called The Wray, pictured
The Wray, pictured, features 158 studio and one- and two-bedroom units. Each one-bedroom unit is 482 square feet and rents for $2,627
A two bedroom, two bath unit has an area of 706 square feet and a rent of $3,942. Pictured: The Wray Apartment Building in Washington, DC
The project is led by architect John Cetra and his firm Cetra Ruddy.
He told Business Insider, “The building almost turns into a club, and the club gives you all these amenities, and part of the club membership includes an apartment.
“The whole social aspect of it, I think, has become a big deal.”
Meanwhile, Steven Paynter, an expert on office-to-residential conversions at architectural firm Gensler, said the trend was accelerated by growing adoption of the work-from-home culture.
“Probably for the last nine months, everyone has been saying, ‘Okay, we’ve got to get serious about it now,'” Paynter told Insider.
“Everyone understands that we’ve kind of hit a plateau, of the new normal, in terms of what the downtown occupancy rate looks like.”
Experts are now calling on governments to relax zoning and rights to allow for more development.
New York Mayor Eric Adams announced a new initiative that aims to accelerate conversions with a proposal to change the regulations. It would free up 136 million square feet of office space, which would help Adams achieve his goal of creating 20,000 new homes for 40,000 citizens.
It marks a dramatic shift in attitude from Adams, who was previously a staunch critic of working from home and once insisted, “You can’t stay home in your pajamas all day.”
One of the buildings being transformed is 55 Broad Street in Manhattan’s Financial District, previously home to Goldman Sachs, pictured
San Francisco and Washington DC have also seen many of their large office buildings transformed into residential homes.
In Washington, the former State Department building was converted into an apartment complex called The Wray.
It features 158 studios and one and two bedroom units. Each one-bedroom unit is 482 square feet and rents for $2,627.
A two bedroom, two bath unit has an area of 706 square feet and a rent of $3,942.
Meanwhile, the office-to-residential conversions are heralded as a way to save downtown San Francisco, eroded by WFH culture.
However, city architects say the high cost of construction and delayed approval processes have meant the trend has been slow to take off.
In addition, downtown San Francisco has been the target of rising crime rates, meaning many homebuyers are reluctant to live there.
Blosziers told Insider: “I’ve been renovating, renovating and renovating large buildings for about thirty years, and we thought our phones would be ringing the bell, but that’s not the case.”
In general, architects say remodels can be expensive, meaning only the most affluent homebuyers can afford them.
“You can’t assume that everyone will be a 27-year-old banker who can afford this,” Cetra said.