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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/07/08/office-housing-conversions-residential-boston-real-estate

Bowser should absolutely be incentivizing developers to convert to residential, and punishing vacancies.  I don’t know why they can’t think more broadly,  [/quote]

First off, if you think commerical-to-residential isn't happening in DC, you're just not paying attention:

https://wtop.com/business-finance/2024/01/dc-region-leads-nation-for-office-to-apartment-conversions/

Secondly, I know a whole lot of dim-bulb urbanists think that you can just slap down a coat of paint and call a building residential, but it's a hugely expensive and complicated process. Oftentimes, it would be cheaper simply to knock down an office building and put up apartments. From the article you linked:

"Architect Tim Love of Utile Architecture and Planning, one of the contributors to Boston's conversion study, said certain features make buildings more adaptable. For example, he said [b]commercial buildings built before World War II[/b] that rely on natural light and ventilation are more suitable for living than ones that came later, with massive floor plates and windows that don't open."

What percentage of non-fed office buildings in DC's downtown core were built before WWII? 5 percent? Less? The point is, the commercial-to-residential process is prohibitively expensive much of the time, even with a government assist.[/quote]

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