Wes LeBlanc is a principal and strategy director at Gensler, a leading architecture and design firm. He recently partnered with The Pew Charitable Trusts to conduct a study on the potential of co-living as a solution to two pressing real estate issues in many US cities: housing affordability and high office vacancies.
According to LeBlanc, the current ratio of empty to occupied office space is not likely to change immediately. Therefore, alternative solutions are needed. One idea that has been extensively discussed is converting offices into residential units; however, this poses challenges due to the layout of most office buildings not being suitable for multifamily living.
This led Gensler and Pew Charitable Trusts’ study team to explore the concept of flexible co-living spaces as an alternative solution. Co-living would involve private rooms with access to shared amenities such as kitchens and bathrooms within an existing building structure. This model could potentially cater towards various demographics including students, seniors, medical staff or anyone earning below median income.
The study focused on three cities – Denver , Minneapolis ,and Seattle – which all face similar problems such as high downtown office vacancy rates and increasing homelessness rates but also have supportive political environments for creative solutions like co-living conversions.
One key advantage highlighted by the study was that using existing plumbing from offices could reduce construction costs by up 35% compared t
