The adaptive reuse of commercial office buildings into residential units has become an increasingly popular topic when looking at how to mitigate the ongoing housing shortage. However, with fewer than one in six office buildings being suitable for residential conversions, adaptive reuse isn't always a viable solution. According to Multi-Housing News, a number of challenges stand in the way of adaptive reuse projects, such as proper zoning, financing, and more. While some areas of the U.S. have found adaptive reuse to be attainable, it is still unclear how feasible such redevelopment projects are on a nationwide scale.
In the Golden State the report finds that most commercial-to-residential projects have taken place through the redevelopment of obsolete buildings or vacant commercially zoned land. In the Big Apple the nine-story building that was the home of Pfizer will be redeveloped into a 29-story multifamily property with up to 660 units. And in New England conversions usually occur because of a lack of raw land rather than from any difference in the suitability of the existing commercial structures.
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