Up to 34% of office buildings in 14 major North American markets could be potential candidates for adaptive reuse, according to Avison Young. An analysis of more than 26,000 buildings revealed that office-to-residential conversions could open the door to housing opportunities for thousands of families across 8,996 properties.
Sheila Botting, principal and president at Avison Young’s Professional Services division in the Americas commented on this potential solution: “Adaptive reuse is an important conversation we are having around the art of the possible – how it contributes to placemaking and revitalizing our neighborhoods – particularly downtown cores.”
Avison Young identified pre-1990 office buildings with floor plates below 15,000 square feet located in 10 U.S. markets and four Canadian ones as part of their research process. New York City had 1,698 eligible properties while Nashville had fewest at just over 100 eligible sites for residential conversion projects.
