[sschueller]

Isn't there a housing shortage? Rezone these buildings for apartments on the upper floors.

Edit: Even if it costs a lot to convert (that is where tax incentives would usually help if done correctly). Having them sit empty costs more eventually.

[exochrono]

I would love to see these offices turned into housing as much as anyone, but I also recommend reading this amazing NYT article on why it's not quite so simple as just rezoning or a simple interior remodel - https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/03/11/upshot/office...

[z3ugma]

This is very interesting, but it assumes the predicate that separated apartments with individual kitchens and bathrooms are the right way for people to live. And 1 BR and studios at that.

These are buildings designed for communal occupancy as offices, why not lean into that as residences? Think like a 1-2 floor cooperative housing for a community of 50-100 people in 25-50 family units. Everyone gets private bedrooms, storage, and a den. But the expensive amenities that foster community are shared: Large commercial-style communal kitchens and bathrooms. That would enable other big shared amenities on the floor like a gym, a daycare, or coworking desks.

The epidemic of loneliness plaguing millennials is in my estimation largely due to a lack of community. Think of the kind of community that was east to build at university - why can’t we have that in the conversion of these big floor plates

[exochrono]

Agreed - a friend in Tokyo mentioned that his neighborhood had small apartments that didn't have their own bathrooms but instead came with unlimited access to the public bathhouse down the street. If you were down with that tradeoff you could get an apt in a super desirable neighborhood for ~$300/mo.

Sounds like an amazing option to me, but totally prevented by zoning / regulations in the US.

[slaw]

Boarding houses are banned in US due to zoning laws.

[AndrewKemendo]

I guess we should just give up then right?

[slaw]

I have no hope.

[LeanderK]

that's actually a great idea. While it's certainly not for everyone, if you don't like it there's every other apartment to choose. It's great to have options from the monotony of the usual apartments.

[nativespecies]

lol, you go live like that and report back to us.

[oxfeed65261]

Great article, thanks for the gift link!

[mrinterweb]

Renovating commercial office space for residential use would be very expensive. Just re-plumbing alone would not be cheep. Probably cheaper than building a brand new building, but I don't know the numbers on that.

[sokoloff]

It's still far cheaper than the land value alone in any place that has skyscrapers and disused commercial property inside them.

[bombcar]

I've read that in cases where it is not a skyscraper it is more expensive than knock-down and rebuild.

And unless it's a really cool old industrial building, you end up with crappy residential buildings that aren't tremendously desired unless the location is really, really good.

[wusher]

It's not as easy as rezoning. there is significant overhead retrofitting commercial real-estate with the plumbing needed for residential. ( as well as many other changes) It's doable but the right incentives would have to be put in place by the city. However, everything i've seen of the city is their policies are very anti landlords.

--edit-- fixed grammer

[corysama]

https://sf.funcheap.com/city-guide/sf-convert-downtown-offic...