[bobthepanda]

The problem is that the rest of the conversion, namely bathrooms and kitchens per unit and the required pipes, are also not cheap, to the point where if you wanted to rent out a lot of cheap units it would be easier to knock the building down and start anew.

[RC_ITR]

> it would be easier to knock the building down and start anew.

Idk where this meme started but it’s very far from reality. We as a species have only ever voluntarily demolished like 30 or so building above 35 stories because it’s insanely expensive to do so (most buildings were knocked down to make significantly larger ones in their place).

In no world is it ever cheaper to tear down a high rise and start over.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_voluntarily_de...

[ChrisMarshallNY]

My company used to work with a German startup that was based in Lübeck, one of the oldest towns in Germany[0].

They were in Old Town, which is on an island.

The building they originally occupied was over a thousand years old. They then modernized to one that was only eight hundred or so years old, then, eventually, they moved to the mainland, into new construction.

Sort of gives new meaning to “reuse.”

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lübeck

[bregma]

> We as a species have only ever voluntarily demolished like 30 or so building above 35 stories because it’s insanely expensive to do so

The designed lifetime of yer typical neopostmodernist glass box office tower is about 25 years. Many of them are 50 years old at this point. They get torn down and replaced all the time.

[RC_ITR]

> The designed lifetime of yer typical neopostmodernist glass box office tower is about 25 years. Many of them are 50 years old at this point. They get torn down and replaced all the time.

I mean, can you provide a list of all these 1973 high rises that are being torn down (and the commentary that they were built to be torn down in 1998)?

I’d be really interested to see that, because any steel building frame should be more durable than that, so I’m curious what these buildings are made out of.

[bobthepanda]

These days buildings are most likely cantilevered from one or more concrete cores rather than steel frame.

Rebar is a bit trickier than just plain steel.

Also, the thing is that any type of conversion most likely triggers building code updates rather than being grandfathered in, at which point for a building 50+ years old there’s probably either lead or asbestos.

[steveBK123]

I think you are confusing wood frame homes with concrete, steel and glass.

One is far more durable than the other.

[bobthepanda]

We don’t usually demolish them because

* the office market has never imploded like this before and it’s fairly easy to fill buildings like these up

* until recently, most tall buildings that were old enough to demolish were also probably subject to landmark status

[steveBK123]

There's an argument there for SRO conversions, but we've shunned those for a generation.

The end of SROs is a strong contributor towards increases in homelessness.

SROs aren't great, but its basically the same as my college dorms.

They are definitely better than being homeless or in a communal shelter as well.