If demand shifts after the pandemic, can properties be repurposed? An apartment building was created from office space in the Bunker Hill area of downtown Los Angeles. As attention turns to what real estate markets may be like once the COVID-19 pandemic has wound down, the outlook for office properties is particularly hazy. More than a year of home-based work left office spaces idle, and it remains unknown how many people will resume their daily commutes once health conditions and local regulations permit. Office vacancies in the United States rose to 17.1 percent by the end of 2020, according to a report by commercial real estate services company JLL. That is nearly 6 percentage points higher than a year earlier, when vacancies were 11.4 percent, as measured by investment management company Colliers International. The possibility of a surplus of underused office space, combined with an ongoing undersupply of affordable housing in many markets, has some real estate professionals wondering whether a wave of office-to-residential conversions will happen. In certain cases, existing buildings can represent an easier path to residential development than traditional ground-up construction. That could be a boon Promise and Perils Assessing the Prospects for Adaptive Use @VESPERSTOCK/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM JOSH COHEN 58 U R B A N LA N D AFeature_Cohen_SP21.indd 58 SPRING 2021 3/29/21 7:26 PM