this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2023
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Unfortunately a lot of office towers are unsuitable to be converted into housing. Since offices don't require that all/most indoor spaces have natural light the same way as apartments, they have much thicker footprints. This is why an office tower can take up a whole block but apartments tend to be narrower shaped buildings.
How much is "a lot"? I've seen several retrofit projects that seemed incredibly challenging take off and be successful, so I don't really know if there are really that many buildings downtown that would be terminally unsuitable. Specially given the somewhat uninspired and homogenous trend of glass towers, and the wild income potential of rentals in downtown.
Generally it's more of a problem for the big glass and steel skyscrapers. Smaller office buildings (ie built before fluorescent lights became a thing) are easier to convert because they were built with similar requirements to a residential building.
How about converting glass/steel skyscrapers to malls or department stores (esp. for higher cost goods that are best not to have at street level), while converting many of the smaller office spaces that can qualify into housing? Most of the stores from space-wasting ground-level shopping malls could relocate into these spaces, for the most part. That said, parking areas (or a large part of them) would have to be converted to loading areas I suppose, so stores would have to offer delivery for larger purchases.
Yeah, I donβt have the data, only anecdotes. Do you have the data? That was the intent of the βhow much is a lot?β.
I know very well three office buildings in downtown, and if I think of them, they fit the bill as suitable.
It's also quite difficult running plumbing and other services in a building not designed for it.