White House announces push to convert empty commercial buildings to housing

[babylonsister]

White House announces push to convert empty commercial buildings to housing
by Brett Samuels - 10/27/23 6:00 AM ET


The Biden administration on Friday announced federal financing and other incentives designed to convert high-vacancy commercial buildings in downtown spaces around the country into residential use in an attempt to increase housing supply.

Administration officials said office space vacancies have hit a 30-year high, while housing costs remain high for millions of Americans and there is a shortage of affordable housing units.

Lael Brainard, director of the National Economic Council, said on a call with reporters that converting empty commercial buildings into residential use represents a “win-win” opportunity to simultaneously revitalize downtown areas with unused office space while increasing affordable housing units.

snip//

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is releasing new guidance on how the Community Development Block Ground fund can be used to boost housing supply, while the Department of Transportation is releasing guidance to make it easier for transit agencies to transfer properties that are no longer needed, such as underutilized storage facilities that could be converted to affordable housing.

more...

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4278387-white-house-converting-commercial-buildings-housing/

[AntivaxHunters]

1. This is great!

[617Blue]

2. I love this idea, hope it gets off the ground

The idea that many (hundreds) thousands of people all get up in the morning at the same time, all then drive or ride to converge on the same place at the same time - and then do it again in a few hours is insane.

I guess this was a long winded way to say that the "morning commute" that I did for 25 years was inefficient and unhealthy. If asked by my corporate masters to do it again I will leave and won't look back. Not doing that again.

[underpants]

3. Excellent idea

[OLDMDDEM]

4. My wife said this many years ago.

[Permanut]

18. Whoa..

I think we may be married to the same woman.

Seriously, my wife said the same thing about empty office space here in Oregon.

[LuvLoogie]

5. As long as private equity is banned from it.

And low income housing is integrated.

[leftstreet]

9. +1

We don't need more money shoveled to private contractors with no oversight

[Deep State Witch]

6. Some Difficulties

There are some difficulties with converting office space to housing. First and foremost is the plumbing. Instead of having one or two set of restrooms per floor, plus possibly a break room with a sink, you need to have to run bathroom and kitchen plumbing for each individual unit. Electrical isn't as bad, because you have a lot of electrical outlets. Also, HVAC systems are designed for large rooms of cubicles, not individual units.

Not saying that it can't be done. It's just that it takes a whole lot of money to totally revamp the infrastructure of office buildings.

[mtngirl47]

8. True, but the building is there and

the parking is there and people living there will certainly support new and existing downtown businesses.

Recycling is good.

[Deep State Witch]

13. Not saying that it's not

It's just that I saw a news article about it a few weeks ago, where they talked about converting some of the empty DC office buildings into housing, and they discussed the issues.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/analysis-heres-what-it-would-take-to-turn-empty-office-buildings-into-residential-housing

[edisdead]

31. It was going to be done in my neck of the woods

At the dairy queen HQ building but not only would the plumbing need to be redone inside the building but all the sewer lines OUTSIDE and connecting to the main sewer line. It is a good idea but the infrastructure needs are large.

[mainer]

10. Dormitories with shared bathrooms

Like the boarding houses of the last century. It’s not the final home for people, but it would be a stopgap.

[maxsolomon]

17. even then.

a residence, even a dorm or shelter, is much different than an office. you need many more bathrooms, many more showers.

by the time you've put in enough to meet the plumbing code, you might as well have built individual units.

not to mention kitchens and their range hood exhaust.

but, converting office buildings to hotels has been ongoing for a while now - so there's definitely precedent for the work.

[Hope22]

22. If it's too expensive to convert, demolish and build what is needed.

People walk the streets in every corner of our country. It is more than time. My only recommendation is that there is oversight on any construction. I have lived long enough to see State projects with structural failure within five years. Nothing gets done to correct the problems and then suddenly the state is paying again for repairs. Accountability for contractors is a must!! Let’s find a solution!

[maxsolomon]

23. I work in Construction and there is oversight from cities. Tons of it.

Nearly every system needs an inspector's sign-off. Often the contractor pays a private company for daily observation, even off-site for components like welded steel or prefabricated framed panels.

I have no idea what city, county, or state you're in where the AHJ is on the hook for repairs of bad workmanship - usually that is on the Contractors. Can you explain?

[Hope22]

24. The State of Ohio....they use contractors for projects and they aren't held accountable when failure occurs.

One in particular that I have been witnessing is a massive fireplace in a grand pavilion that is a centerpiece to a state park. Water froze and cracked and destroyed not only the exterior stone but all of the oven brick on the inside of the structure. As a resident of the state I called the park administrator with a question regarding the structural problem. The following season a contractor was sent out to repair the structure. Not twelve months later more aggressive cracks are back the length of the 60 ft structure and all of the fire bricks have collapsed into the fireplace yet again. This centerpiece for weddings, rentals and gatherings is really a mess. No end in sight for a proper repair and to be honest the admin does not seem to worried about it.

I understand about zoning and inspectors. I know the complications of preservation of the character and history of a community. I guess I’m old enough to understand that the hungry, homeless and sick have needs today and if we can’t reconfigure a building we should move on with a design that will fit our needs and is economical! And yes, contractors should be held accountable. Sorry if this is more info than you needed!

[maxsolomon]

29. So, you're likely talking about a WPA picnic shelter - nearly 90 years old now.

Outdoor fireplaces & chimneys need constant maintenance, or the grout deteriorates. Ohio State Parks may not have understood all the issues impacting the masonry & stonework, or may have only had funding for stop-gap repairs.

It's just not the same as this idea, which is converting privately owned office buildings (which are presumably still functional for office occupancy) to affordable housing using Federal Subsidies. They're not going to be demolished if the conversion doesn't pencil out.

[Maru Kitteh]

20. Shared bathrooms is pretty sketch from a public health and crime standpoint.

Families should have their own bathrooms, but to save space and some expense maybe it would be best to have some kind of cafeteria and/or bodega on the ground floor and cut the need for full kitchens.

[maxsolomon]

28. In a shelter situation, it would be acceptable if sex-segregated.

Not for individual units, hence the expense of conversion.

It used to be normal in boarding houses. I stayed at a hotel a few years back that still had shared baths - in Frenchglen, Oregon.

[Hope22]

30. Gender segregated restrooms are becoming a thing of the past.

Restrooms/ showers will be single/family user spaces. Corporations are already making the switch to avoid the bathroom police!

[maxsolomon]

32. Homeless shelters often segregate women and children from single men.

We're talking hypotheticals here.

[William769]

7. This is very good.

[niyad]

11. Excellent!

[hunter]

12. It's been very successful in our small city.

Our downtown used to be a place where few people wanted to be after dark, the streets haunted with homeless people, prostitutes, and drug dealers.

Now with old office buildings converted to apartments it's become a desirable place to live.

High speed internet is part of that equation.

Our local shopping mall is dominated by a defunct "anchor store." There are plans to tear that down and convert the land, including much of the parking lot, to affordable housing.

I think this will be a positive development for the remaining mall and our city in general.

People enjoy living in neighborhoods where they can walk to restaurants, shops, and theaters. My children and some of their cousins live in such places.

[Deep State Witch]

14. That happened in our town

I live in a suburb of DC. Our old mall was decrepit and literally falling down. They knocked it down and built up a multi-use "Town Center" with apartments, grocery store, a theater, and shopping/restaurant area. Now it's a vital part of the town.

[gulliver]

15. If the Biden Admin thinks it's promising, it probably is.

I wonder what successful commercial real estate developers (and other commercial real estate developers like Trump) think of this idea. It does seem like a win-win.

[Autumn]

16. What a great idea. This is something that is badly needed , those empty commercial buildings

are everywhere. I hope that the government will keep them and rent them out. Or sell them reasonable like little condos.

[pfitz59]

19. Several shopping malls in my area

have been revived by replacing defunct big box stores with Senior and low-income housing. Smaller shops, food courts and theaters are thriving.

[JanMichael]

21. Avoid "Charlie Munger Reduced Circumstance Housing"

Recent Upload episode nails him.

Natural light is important in every housing development. No windowless units like Charlie wants.

[Hekate]

35. Charles Munger designed a much-needed dorm at UCSB, and it's a freaking nightmare

He gave a hunk of cash to do the job — but only to his specs. It’s been awhile since I read anything about it, but the Los Angeles Times articles were comprehensive.

Frankly, for any population of students living in that situation, I foresee a big uptick in depression, anxiety — and suicide.

[calimary]

26. What a terrific idea!

It’s there and it’s not being used. Why not?

[brush]

27. Kudos, pls. The Biden admin/Dems quietly keeps coming up with ideas that actualy help people...

as opposed to the dumpster fire repugs who can't govern worth a bucket of warm spit (apologies to John Nance Garner).

I hope the admin talks this up so voters see Biden is working hard while trump keeps exhibiting mental decline.

[getagrip_already]

33. we can start with empty space in tiny's tower on 5th ave and conver that into low income housing

it will be seized soon in his fraud trial so the gubberment should be able to pick it up cheap.

There is apparently a lot of unoccupied commercial space in the building. Might as well use for something useful.

[thatdemguy]

34. I can answer a lot of the questions, I am currently doing 340 apts in baltimore

In 2 former office buildings. It is not as simple as moving people in, they gut the building back to a shell and everything but the floors and exterior walls are new. Its a completely new electrical, plumbing and havc.

They are not low income but certainly not high end rent, and they are exempt from some ADA requirements, due to historic requirements. Almost every apt is convertable to ada, but none are done from scratch.

The historic requirements are nuts, the one building has 1175 items that must be preserved and restored. And some of those items that count as one is the stair railings in 17 floors of one stair well.

The cost per sq foot is higher than a new building due to a few things, the only saving grace is the build speed. We are on schedule to do the 112 unit building in a year, and we have the same size building in DC that will take 2.5 years. Just due to having to build it from scratch.
The buildings in baltimore will have an average rent of 1350 for a 1 bedroom, 1200 for the studios.

Have any questions just reply to my post. I am the electrical contractor.

[Hekate]

36. Thank you for the info! I look forward to your answers to other people's queries