Adaptive reuse is the process of updating an existing structure and adapting it for a new use. In 2020 and 2021, a total of approximately 32,000 converted apartment units were delivered to market, according RentCafe, with Philadelphia and Washington, DC leading in total conversions. Forty-one percent of these 32,000 units (13,120) are in former office buildings, according to the report, and it is estimated that in 2022, office to multifamily conversions will produce an additional 12,300 apartments units.

Office pricing would have to go down by 25 to 50 percent from current rates for an adaptive reuse wave to have greater than a marginal impact on housing production and commercial property use, according to The Wall Street Journal (citing analysis from Moody’s).

Last Updated on June 21, 2022 by Ramin Seddiq