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.
A pedestrian is silhouetted against a high rise at 160 Water Street in Manhattan's financial district, as the building is undergoing a conversion to residential apartments, Tuesday, April 11, 2023, in New York. A pedestrian is silhouetted against a high rise at 160 Water Street in Manhattan's financial district, as the building is undergoing a conversion to residential apartments, Tuesday, April 11, 2023, in New York.
NEW YORK — On the 31st floor of what was once a towering office building in downtown Manhattan, construction workers lay down steel bracing for what will soon anchor a host of residential amenities: a catering station, lounge, fire pit and gas grills. The building, empty since 2021, is being converted to 588 market-rate rental apartments that will house about 1,000 people. “We’re taking a vacant building and pouring life not only into this building, but this entire neighborhood,” said Joey Chilelli, managing director of real estate firm Vanbarton Group, which is doing the conversion.
Across the country, office-to-housing conversions are being pursued as a potential lifeline for struggling downtown business districts that emptied out during the pandemic and may never fully recover. The conversion push is marked by an emphasis on affordability. Multiple cities are offering serious tax breaks for developers to incentivize office-to-housing conversions — provided that a certain percentage of apartments are offered at affordable below-market prices.
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.
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