BlissDec 13, 2022
Why aren't more offices being converted into apartments? Seems like a slam dunk for cities trying to become work from home hubs and stimulate their economies. Cities should incentivize this. Oh and convert their parking garages to apartments while they're at it too. #urbanism #yimby
Show threadCap'n TransitDec 13, 2022

@BlissSeed I saw an article about this. A lot of it is the plumbing: many office buildings only have one set of big bathrooms, and maybe one pantry, per floor. In the 21st Century US, we expect every apartment to have its own kitchen and bathroom, including shower and tub.

For many garages, the only plumbing is a sprinkler system!

I'll try and find the article...

Show threadCap'n TransitDec 13, 2022

@BlissSeed I'm payrolled, but this headline looks like the article I was talking about.

Allowing new apartment buildings without parking in areas that were reserved for offices is worth doing first!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/following-pandemic-converting-office-buildings-into-housing-may-become-new-normal/2021/03/31/2fec400e-8820-11eb-8a8b-5cf82c3dffe4_story.html

Following pandemic, converting office buildings into housing may become new ‘normal’

But such alterations for home living face significant challenges in design, technology, regulations, and costs and financing.

The Washington Post
Show threadBlissDec 13, 2022
@capntransit it might be a little expensive to figure out the plumbing, but not as expensive as building a whole new building. I imagine the biggest hurdle is that it's zoned commercial. I think it'd be cool if we just zoned every office mixed use, and some floors could be residential, and some can stay offices.
Show threadToby MuresianuDec 16, 2022

@BlissSeed @capntransit definitely think commercial should be rezoned. There's a little bit of this happening in California now and other places.

https://www.freethink.com/transportation/california-housing-reform-legalizes-up-to-2-4-million-new-apartments

"Up to 2.4 million new apartments" legalized by bipartisan California legislation

Governor Gavin Newsom signed several bills to boost housing supply and enable walkable communities, if they work as planned.

Freethink
Show threadToby MuresianuDec 16, 2022
@BlissSeed @capntransit I'd also just add that office > residential conversions can be hard because the layouts are pretty different--apparently you wind up with a lot of oddly shaped or windowless interior rooms or whatever. There's definitely ones it makes sense for, but they're a smaller percentage. One possibility is building new housing on surface parking lots in commercial areas, so you transform them to more mixed-use, walkable neighborhoods.
Show threadBliss
@TobyHardtospell @capntransit love infill development, Denver has this really cool blog tracking infill with maps and progress updates https://denverinfill.com/ . Infill is only one peice of the puzzle though, that's why I was thinking about other options such as office conversions.
Dec 16, 2022 at 6:56amWeb