Spring 2021 Issue - 58

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

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AFeature_Cohen_SP21.indd 58

SPRING 2021

3/29/21 7:26 PM



Spring 2021 Issue

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Spring 2021 Issue

Spring 2021 Issue - Cover1
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Spring 2021 Issue - Cover3
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