New report suggests a sizeable percentage of office buildings could be converted
Up to 34% of office buildings in 14 major North American markets could be potential candidates for office-to-residential conversions, according to Avison Young.
Policy makers should look at this kind of property repurposing more seriously, as it is “a solution that contributes to placemaking and to the revitalization and vibrancy of neighbourhoods, particularly downtown cores,” Avison Young said.
“We must reimagine how we want to live, work and play,” said Sheila Botting, principal and president (professional services, Americas) at Avison Young. “Adaptive reuse is one of the key components of how we do that as a community.”
This has become especially relevant as the pattern of office vacancies across North America has demonstrated a clear flight to quality, “with tenants shifting up in the marketplace to choose higher-quality, highly-amenitized offerings with increasing vacancy in class B and C buildings,” Avison Young said.
Owners of these older assets could leverage this trend to their favour, if they rethink their strategies and explore their options, “whether that is to stay as is, renovate/upgrade, innovate (repurpose / adaptive reuse), or redevelop altogether,” Avison Young said.
Such repurposing will also help neighbourhoods and downtowns recover faster in the post-pandemic world.
“People are rethinking how they use office buildings and how they view the entire downtown,” Botting said. “Whereas most downtowns have mainly office buildings, a mix of uses provides much needed energy and vibrancy – and that’s where adaptive reuse provides a tremendous opportunity to reimagine great spaces for people to connect.”
