Maybe, Just Maybe… vacant downtown office spaces are what the nation needs to solve the housing crisis.

Maybe, Just Maybe…

Vacant Downtown Office Spaces are what the nation needs to solve the Housing Crisis

Currently, the U.S is facing a significant housing crisis since both rents and house prices are at or near record high levels. High inventories and the ever-increasing demand are various reasons leading to such instances.

It has also led to the realization that office spaces in prime land are empty and might not get back to full occupancy since most workers have settled on working remotely and thus will never return to their town offices. Workers in expensive cities and costly commute areas will not get back to their offices and are comfortable working from home.

America is tossing on new norms after the Covid 19 pandemic. Realtors are unsure how to handle the unresolved issue of empty office spaces on prime land, especially in urban areas and the suburbs. Even as most workers return to the office for the first time after the Pandemic, most buildings are half empty, and their future is uncertain. probably be converted to apartments, townhouses, condos, and other facilities. A shift towards converting empty offices to residential places will hugely add stock to the tight market. According to Brian Kropp, Vice President of Research in Human Resources at Gartner, “We’re not going to need as much office space as we have now,” Thus, it would benefit the city if they utilize that space in other ways.

In a survey conducted by Security Systems Company, Kastle office spaces are 43% occupied. Large companies

such as Twitter are downsizing their office spaces since it has allowed their workers to work entirely from home if they choose to. Other mega companies like Apple encourage workers to report to the office at least twice weekly.

Converting offices to homes is not new to Americans. It started in 2010 when the nation was facing significant impacts brought by The Great Recession, and since then, it is something that is being slowly incorporated.

According to the rentals site RentCafe, approximately 8000 units were converted to residential units from offices, particularly in Philadelphia and Washington D.C. 2022 looks forward to receiving 13000 units ready for residential use emphasizing primarily in Los Angeles and Cleveland cities. The act of converting office space to homes could be more rapid due to uncertainties witnessed after The Covid 19 pandemic.

Converting office space to residential units is quite challenging due to the immense work included, the lengthy timelines for the completion of projects, and many regulatory barriers. In most cases, office buildings with the most opportunity are also the hardest to invest in and thus take longer to complete.

WHY COULD OFFICES REMAIN NOT OCCUPIED?

Companies such as financial and legal firms have ordered employees to return to their offices fully five days a week. However, employers also agree that not all employees will agree to return to the office fulltime, especially if it is possible to execute all functions remotely. For example, in New York City, most of its workers work from home, and only less than 40% of the workers return to the office.

In other Cities such as Texas, more than half of the employees had returned to their offices, especially in affordable areas such as Houston, Austin, and Dallas.

Most firms prepared well that about a quarter of their employees will continue to work from home while more than fifty percent of the workers will be hybrid, leaving only a small group of people who will fully return to their offices.

A lot of office space is going to be left unused. Instead of companies having them and catering for rent and other technical services monthly, it is cheaper to downsize the excess space. So that they fulfill the real estate needs other than leaving such areas unoccupied for an unpredicted duration of time which could extend to over 20 years.

TYPES OF OFFICE BUILDINGS TO BE CONVERTED TO RESIDENTIAL HOUSES.

The most probable houses that will be converted to apartments and condos are houses constructed in the 1970 and 80s. Such buildings are considered those of EPC class C and are not modern to suit modern needs, such as indoor and outdoor space and a lot of light, among others. For instance, 550 luxury apartments in Philadelphia were converted from initial office buildings.

There is hope that most empty office spaces will be converted to residential homes encouraging a 24/7 life in most cities. The drive to utilize office towers is beneficial not only to developers but cities as well. As much as office townhouses will be converted to residential homes, there will still be enough space for office use. When workers need to collaborate and work together, young workers, who usually love meeting their colleagues in person, have enough room.