Will Changing Offices to Housing Help the US Market?

Will Changing Offices to Housing Help the US Market?

Officials in many American cities say they want companies to turn empty office buildings into housing.

These housing plans, known as office-to-housing conversions², can help downtown business areas that became empty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some policy makers³ consider conversions a way to increase the supply of less costly⁴, or affordable⁵, housing. Critics doubt the positive effects of these changes.

The push to change office buildings to housing

In the fall of 2022, the Congressional Research Services, or CRS, released a report. The report noted⁶ that housing costs in the United States have become a big issue. That is because housing prices are high, housing supplies are limited, and mortgage interest rates are rising.

The report noted that there have been some increases in new house building activities. But problems related to rising building costs and the availability of labor⁷ and materials remain.

At the same time, vacancy⁸ rates at downtown office buildings continue to rise. Vacancy rates show how much unused office space there is. The real estate business CBRE said the vacancy rate was 12.2 percent in the last three months of 2019. The number increased to 17.8 percent in the first three months of 2023. Some places with the lowest use of office space include San Francisco with a vacancy rate of 29.4 percent, Houston at 23.6 percent, Philadelphia at 21.7 percent and Washington, D.C. at 20.3 percent.

As a result of limited housing supply and the increasing number of empty office buildings, a number of cities are offering lower taxes for building developers. These tax breaks aim to increase office-to-housing conversions. One requirement is that a set percentage of apartments are offered at below-market prices.

In January, Pittsburgh announced it was accepting ideas to produce more affordable housing through the "conversion¹ of...underutilized office space." Underutilized means that the space is not being used.

In October, Boston released a plan aimed at improving downtown. The plan included a push for more housing, some of which would come from office conversions.

And Seattle in Washington state launched a competition in April for downtown building owners and design companies to come up with conversion ideas.

In Washington DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser wants office-to-housing conversions to help repopulate the downtown area. Her plan, announced earlier this year, seeks to add 15,000 new residents downtown, adding to the approximately 25,000 who already live here.

"We're not going to have as many workers downtown as we had before the pandemic," Bowser said earlier this year. "Our job is to make sure that we are getting more people downtown."

Questions

But critics have doubts about the conversion push.

Housing advocates worry that the affordable housing requirements could be reduced or pushed aside.

Even supporters of the conversions say that giving tax breaks to big developers is not the best tool to reach their goals.

"Developers who feel it's going to benefit their bottom line will do it without an incentive⁹," said Erica Williams, director of the D.C. Fiscal¹⁰ Policy Institute. "This is a very costly proposal for an unproven program."

And, as increasing numbers of employers turn to hybrid¹¹ work, some question whether people will want to move to downtown areas if they are not required to work in an office every day.

Last January, Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey said at the United States Conference of Mayors meetings in Washington "You have to make downtown a neighborhood — somewhere that's living and playful and active."

Chuck D'Aprix of Downtown Economics, a development advisory¹² company, said it can be difficult to get new residents in former downtown business areas. The businesses that residents need are different from the businesses needed by daytime office workers.

Such businesses include less costly food stores, childcare centers, pet supply shops, hardware stores and auto¹³ repair businesses. And those places need to stay open past office hours.

"A lot of those services simply aren't available right now in small city downtowns or mid-sized city downtowns, you know, they close up at night," D'Aprix said.

Words in This Story

conversion –n. the process of changing something from one use to another usually through updating or rebuilding some of it

mortgage – n. a legal agreement in which a person borrows money to buy property (such as a house) and pays back the money over a period of years

vacancy –n. an unused space for housing or office work that is also not creating income from rent or sale

advocate –n. a person who argues for a cause or policy

benefit – v. to be useful or helpful to (someone or something)

incentive – n. something that encourages a person to do something or to work harder

hybrid – adj. something that is formed by combining two or more things (for example, office work and remote work)

resident –n. a person who lives in a certain place

1 conversion   

n.转化，转换，转变

参考例句：

• He underwent quite a conversion.他彻底变了。
• Waste conversion is a part of the production process.废物处理是生产过程的一个组成部分。

2 conversions   

变换( conversion的名词复数 )； （宗教、信仰等）彻底改变； （尤指为居住而）改建的房屋； 橄榄球（触地得分后再把球射中球门的）附加得分

参考例句：

• He kicked a penalty goal and two conversions, ie in Rugby football. 他一次罚球得分，两次触地后射门得分（在橄榄球赛中）。
• Few of the intermediates or enzymes involved in these conversions have been isolated from higher plants. 在这些转变中包含的少数中间产物或酶已经从高等植物中分离出来。

3 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

5 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

8 vacancy   

n.（旅馆的）空位，空房，（职务的）空缺

参考例句：

• Her going on maternity leave will create a temporary vacancy.她休产假时将会有一个临时空缺。
• The vacancy of her expression made me doubt if she was listening.她茫然的神情让我怀疑她是否在听。

9 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

10 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

11 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

12 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

13 auto   

n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车

参考例句：

• Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
• The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。