Tag: Cities & Infrastructure

The Push for Office-to-Residential Conversions

Posted on by Abigail Grenadier

Cities across the U.S. are increasingly embracing office-to-residential conversions as part of the solution to address persistent housing shortages and high office vacancy rates driven by remote work policies. Many local governments in key metro areas have accelerated incentive programs and made major progress, bringing thousands of new homes into the development pipeline with more to come.

Challenges and Incentives

  • Property conversions can be a cost-effective means to re-purpose certain CRE assets to provide new, affordable housing supply, revive struggling city centers and small businesses, restore local revenue sources, and reduce energy consumption. While costs can vary depending on the building and other project factors, at least one recent property conversion is estimated to cost 40% less than a wholly new apartment building. (Morning Brew, Sept. 24)
  • Office-to-residential conversions present a path to revitalizing downtown areas, but regulatory and financial hurdles must be addressed to unlock their full potential. (ULI, Sept. 27)
  • Various cities are actively pursuing policies to incentivize these conversions through zoning changes and tax incentives:
  • New York City proposed a $400 million initiative to support the conversion of older office buildings into residential units. The “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” plan aims to create 500,000 new homes over the next decade by legalizing zoning conversions for buildings constructed before 1990 in areas where residential use is allowed, and expands the types of housing commercial buildings can be converted into.
  • Washington, D.C. has implemented the Housing in Downtown program, designed to catalyze new residential development through a 20-year tax abatement for commercial-to-residential conversions, with expectations to deliver 6.7 million square feet of residential use. (BisNow, Sept. 19)
  • Minneapolis took steps last week to simplify its office-to-residential conversion process by passing an ordinance that streamlines the review process, reduces project timelines, and pauses certain affordability requirements for five years. (CBS, Sept. 24)
  • San Francisco has seen limited success despite efforts to incentivize conversions. Only two projects totaling 165 units are underway, prompting Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Matt Dorsey to propose eliminating impact fees and affordable housing requirements for downtown conversions in key areas. (GlobeSt., Oct. 1)
  • California faced a setback this week when Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill aimed at expediting the conversion of vacant office buildings into residential or mixed-use spaces. The legislation would have mandated by-right approval for adaptive reuse projects, streamlining the review process by bypassing environmental reviews and local zoning approvals. (GlobeSt., Oct. 1)
  • This week on the Walker Webcast, Dr. Peter Linneman (Leading Economist, Professor Emeritus, The Wharton School of Business) predicted there will be a push for back-to-office policies after the November elections, regardless who gains control of the White House. (Walker Webcast, Oct. 2)

Climate Risks and Opportunities

Workers on sustainable energy project on rooftop of building
  • Office-to-residential conversions are recognized universally as having positive climate impacts because they reduce “embodied” emissions in concrete, glass, and other construction materials relative to new projects built from the ground up. (Arup, Dec. 2023; Urban Green, Dec. 2023; NAIOP (April 2023)).
  • Expanding the use of clean energy tax credits, as proposed in the IRA, could further incentivize conversion projects, helping to reduce long-term operating costs and improve building resilience.
  • With tax policy debates at the forefront in Washington, The Roundtable submitted recommendations to Congressional tax leaders this week (see Tax story above), urging enhancements to the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy tax provisions in any future legislation. (Letter, Oct. 2)
  • The recommendations included expanding energy-efficient tax credits to cover low-emissions building equipment and allowing developers to transfer the 45L and 179D credits, which would help reduce housing costs and boost energy efficiency.
  • The Roundtable has also encouraged federal agencies to make key improvements to their existing low-interest loan programs to better support property conversions that support high-density, transit-oriented housing. (Roundtable Weekly, April 19)
  • A recent Morningstar report highlighted the growing importance of ESG considerations in real estate investment, with 67% of global asset owners acknowledging that ESG factors have become more material over the past five years. (CREFC, Oct. 1)

The Roundtable will continue to advocate for support at the federal level, such as the bipartisan Revitalizing Downtowns and Main Streets Act (H.R.9002) introduced in July, to create market-based tax incentives for office-to-residential conversions. These projects offer a promising but complex solution to both the commercial real estate market’s transformation and the housing shortage. With proper support, they could reshape and rebuild cities across the country.

Revitalizing Post-Pandemic Cities Through Building Conversions

Posted on by Abigail Grenadier

Recent reports show property conversions are on the rise as commercial real estate and cities continue to undergo significant transformations to adapt to new post-pandemic realities. (Multihousing News, May 20 | (CBRE Report, May 29)

Construction skyline

Report Data

  • Adaptive reuse projects are on the rise, with 17.6% more apartments converted from outdated buildings in 2023 than the prior year, according to a recent RentCafe report.
  • There are currently 151,000 units underway in various stages of conversion projects across the U.S., of which 58,000 are to be redeveloped from office properties. (CRE Daily, May 30)
  • Adaptive reuse projects from former hotels are at an all-time high in the U.S., with a 38.8% increase since the previous year and almost double the volume of 2021. (RentCafe report).
  • CBRE’s “Shaping Tomorrow’s Cities” report identified six key factors that can help cities rebuild and thrive: economic dynamism, demographic potential, lifestyle vibrancy, distinctive identity, responsive governance, and resilient infrastructure.

Rebuilding Strategies

  • Converting underutilized buildings to residential use can be a cost-effective means of developing new housing, creating jobs, and generating critical sources of local property tax revenue while saving energy and reinvigorating communities.
  • However, conversions can be costly, and local governments and developers must work together to bridge the gap and aid in rebuilding cities and communities.
  • For example, Chicago is providing $150 million in public subsidies to property developers to convert four buildings in the business district to more than 1,000 apartments, with the assurance that one-third are set aside as affordable units. (WSJ, May 28)
  • In New York City, Mayor Adams created the Office Conversion Accelerator Program, which brings city agencies together to work collaboratively with developers and aims to streamline converting offices into housing. (CRE Daily, May 30)
  • “Public and private stakeholders have an integral role to play in shaping American cities. By having an all-hands-on-deck approach, the collective impact of experiences and rich data will drive insights and strategies to transform our cities,” the report said. (CBRE Report, May 29)

Roundtable Recommendations

  • The Roundtable has urged policymakers to create a robust tax incentive to help overcome the significant financial, architectural, and engineering hurdles associated with repurposing older commercial buildings as housing.
  • The incentive should complement actions taken by state and local governments to encourage property conversions.
  • The Roundtable is working with the House and Senate sponsors of the Revitalizing Downtowns Act (H.R.419) to update and improve the bill, which would create a 20-30 percent tax credit for qualifying conversion costs.
  • The credit is based on the highly successful historic rehabilitation tax credit and would apply to buildings that set aside 20 percent of their housing units for low- and moderate-income tenants.
  • In April, The Roundtable recommended a series of actions to the Biden administration to support commercial-to-residential property conversions, including leveraging various federal loan programs and tax incentives to provide financial support for CRE conversions. (Roundtable Weekly, April 19)

Property conversions and the Revitalizing Downtowns Act (H.R.419) will be discussed at The Roundtable’s Annual Meeting on June 20-21 in Washington, DC.

Biden Administration Announces Support for Financing Commercial to Residential Property Conversions

Posted on by Abigail Grenadier

The Biden administration today revealed a suite of federal resources—including low-interest loans—to assist commercial to residential conversions that increase housing supply, revitalize urban downtowns, and cut climate pollution. (White House fact sheet; Bloomberg, Oct. 27).

Holistic Federal Strategy

  • Roundtable President and CEO, Jeffrey D. DeBoer said, “The pandemic’s indelible impact on where Americans live and work continues to reverberate through the real estate industry, which is at the center of this societal transition. The Roundtable supports innovative policy that reimagines the adaptive reuse of CRE, rejuvenates affordable housing and urban downtowns, and addresses the climate crisis. The guidance released by the White House today checks all these boxes—and bolsters our agenda to improve the health of our cities, local tax bases, and small businesses.”   
  • Among the actions announced today, conversion projects located near mass transit hubs would be eligible for low-interest financing under U.S. Department of Transportation programs. “TIFIA” and “RRIF” loans are pegged to US Treasuries at 5.03 percent interest (today’s rates).
  • Transit-oriented projects supported by TIFIA and RRIF financing do not require affordable housing units—although they can be “stacked” with projects supported by low-income housing tax credits and local laws may have independent inclusionary zoning mandates. (FAQs on project eligibility)
  • The White House announcement also directs the General Services Administration (GSA) to identify “surplus” federal properties that private developers may help to convert to housing.
  • A fact sheet summarizing the administration’s actions indicates that training workshops will be held this fall for real estate owners, developers, and lenders on how to use federal programs included in the White House’s new “Commercial to Residential Conversions” guidebook, which describes how 20 programs across six federal agencies can be used to support adaptive re-use projects.
  • The Administration’s guidebook also explains how mortgage insurance and grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) can leverage state, local, and private sector capital as layers in the capital stack to support adaptive reuse.

Adaptive Reuse a “Win-Win”

  • Real estate market conditions with high office vacancies “present[ ] an area of opportunity to increase housing supply while revitalizing Main Streets,” said National Economic Council Director Lael Brainerd. “It’s a win-win.” (POLITICOPro, Oct. 27) (WH Council of Economic Advisors blog post)
  • White House efforts to assist property conversions lands as national office vacancy stands at nearly 18 percent—with some major metro areas experiencing vacancies higher than one-fifth of their entire inventory—according to a report from  analytics firm Yardi Matrix released on Thursday. (Commercial Observer, Oct. 26)
  • Architectural firm Gensler released a report on Monday that estimates 25% of under-performing U.S. office properties are suitable candidates for conversion projects.

The initiative builds on the Biden Administration’s announcement last July to boost the nation’s housing supply. (Roundtable Weekly, July 28).  The Roundtable will continue to serve as a conduit between our members and the Biden Administration to help design impactful policies that can assist with office to residential conversions.

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