[wing-_-nuts]

Good. Maybe we can mass retrofit old office space into new housing. I know there are issues with office buildings not having the electricity and plumbing or lighting for proper residential, but I'm sure there are a lot of budding architects working on the problem.

It would be great for cities if we had a massive influx of relatively affordable housing.

[gumby]

I was a big fan of this but it's harder than it sounds. After all, we all know of some great commercial conversions from prior generations (most of the southern part of Manhattan, for example).

Unfortunately the big modern office towers often aren't constructed in a way that supports apartment conversion. There are lots of offices in those buildings with no windows, and all the service(i.e bathrooms) are in the core. Retail space is often worse in this regard, especially in malls. The renovation costs often end up higher than demolishing and building anew.

I still think you're on the right track though, it's just that the obvious fix is harder than it looks. But I do believe cities are in for a great renaissance of mixed-use buildings.

[plasticchris]

Maybe apartments are the wrong paradigm - this sounds perfect for creating something like a dormitory with rooms on the perimeter and shared bathrooms.

[nerdponx]

It's ridiculous to even consider this in New York, where they could have just been building normal apartments instead of luxury condo towers for the last 10 years.

[asdajksah2123]

What's the difference between "normal apartments" and "luxury condo towers"?

[nerdponx]

Price, mostly. Luxury amenities are a consequence thereof.

However you can't just blame it on demand. These are $16 million condos we are talking about. Functionally they are entirely different goods from apartments intended to be inhabited as a primary residence by people who are not extravagantly wealthy. Moreover, vacancy rates for luxury apartments were high before Covid, and remain high now, even while the rest of the city continues to deal with brutally low vacancy rates in all other housing categories.

So the situation is a little more subtle than "low supply, therefore high prices" and warrants further scrutiny.

[bcrosby95]

Nah, gotta create more piggy banks for the billionaire class.

[kibwen]

This doesn't deserve to be downvoted, it is a perfectly apt description of many of NYC's newest skyscrapers.

[aorloff]

AB 2011 purports to address this. I don’t have confidence it will move the needle.