5.2 Million Square Feet of San Francisco Office Space May Be Suited For Housing Conversion!

If true this could be great news! A recent working report from New York University and Columbia University identified older office buildings that were physically suited for conversion from office to residential. “The papers authors…identified 140 office buildings across San Francisco for which residential conversion could make financial sense. San Francisco, the paper’s authors write, is among the markets where apartment rents have historically been high enough that the math behind conversions could work; they point to various policy levers that – pulled at the local, state or even federal level — could also help get residential conversions over the finish line. That includes zoning adjustments, tax abatements, debt subsidies and government grants to assist developers in transforming obsolete office buildings into more environmentally-friendly housing.” San Francisco Business Times Sept. 12, 2023  A major side benefit, if this theory holds water, is that office tenants in these buildings would be relocated to other, non-conversion buildings, thus further reducing the office vacancy rate in San Francisco.