Roughly one in three office buildings in the largest U.S. cities are well suited to be converted to multifamily residential properties, according to a study by global real estate firm Avison Young.
Some 6,206 buildings across 10 U.S. cities present viable opportunities for conversion to residential use. These buildings were built before 1990 with floor sizes below 15,000 sf, making them good candidates for conversion. Such properties are better suited for converting to apartments or condominiums than buildings with larger floor plans that are harder to divide into living spaces.
New York City, the largest U.S. office market at 975 million sf, has the most older buildings available at 1,698, according to Avison Young. Los Angeles is second with 1,212 and Chicago comes in third with 1,030.
The volume of conversions has risen considerably since 2016. A CBRE report last December showed 85 conversions underway this year, double those completed last year. In 2016, the there were 24 conversions.
Converting old office buildings to other uses has gained momentum since the Covid pandemic struck. Office utilization is at an average of 50% across major cities, according to a recent study by security technology firm Kastle Systems.
If that level of use persists, there will be more pressure to convert older offices, which generally operate less sustainably than new properties built to more stringent energy codes, for other purposes.
Related Stories
| Sep 3, 2019
Top 10 indoor amenities in multifamily developments for 2019
In-unit washer/dryer heads our ranking of the top indoor amenities in multifamily housing developments.
AEC Innovators | Aug 27, 2019
7 AEC industry disruptors and their groundbreaking achievements
From building prefab factories in the sky to incubating the next generation of AEC tech startups, our 2019 class of AEC Innovators demonstrates that the industry is poised for a shakeup. Meet BD+C’s 2019 AEC Innovators.
AEC Tech | Aug 25, 2019
Deluxe parking: A condo building in Philadelphia offers its owners a completely automated parking service
This is the first “palletless” system that Westfalia Technologies has installed.
Multifamily Housing | Aug 22, 2019
40-story residential tower to rise near Seattle’s Pike Place Market
Hewitt architects is designing the project.
Multifamily Housing | Aug 19, 2019
Affordable, senior development rises in the Bronx
RKTB Architects is designing the project.
Multifamily Housing | Aug 19, 2019
Top 10 outdoor amenities in multifamily housing for 2019
Top 10 results in the “Outdoor Amenities” category in our Multifamily Design+Construction Amenities Survey 2019.
Market Data | Aug 19, 2019
Multifamily market sustains positive cycle
Year-over-year growth tops 3% for 13th month. Will the economy stifle momentum?
Giants 400 | Aug 15, 2019
Top 140 Multifamily Sector Architecture Firms for 2019
Humphreys & Partners, KTGY, SCB, CallisonRTKL, and Perkins Eastman top the rankings of the nation's largest multifamily sector architecture and architecture engineering (AE) firms, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2019 Giants 300 Report.
Multifamily Housing | Aug 12, 2019
Multifamily Amenities 2019: Rethinking the $30,000 cup of coffee
What amenities are “must-have” rather than “nice to have” for the local market? Which amenities will attract the renters or buyers you’re targeting? The 2019 Multifamily Amenities Survey measured 113 amenity choices.
| Aug 9, 2019
Whirlpool Debuts Smart All-In-One Washer and Dryer
Whirlpool washer and dryer in one machine can provide laundering solutions in apartments with limited space.
