Reply to Downtown DC is a storefront ghost

Forum Index » Metropolitan DC Local Politics

Reply to "Downtown DC is a storefront ghost "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Out: storefronts and bricks and mortar stores

In: high density urban living and restaurants / eateries[/quote]

Yes! They need to turn this vacant office space into housing ASAP.  People would gladly live downtown and then some of the shops/restaurants/life will come back.  [/quote]

There is no "ASAP" with what you propose. Any meaningful residential conversions will take decades. In the case of most office buildings, it would be more cost-effective to tear them down and build residential in its place. You can't just snap your fingers and convert an office building into apartments.[/quote]

This one at 20th & L seems to have taken under two years:

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/first-large-scale-office-to-residential-conversion-in-dcs-downtown-nears-completion-302085578.html[/quote]

Your one data point isn't very convincing.

"It’s hard to do a conversion. Office buildings weren’t constructed to be lived in.

"They don’t have the plumbing and electrical guts that homes require. Ceilings need to be high enough that these additions won’t drop them below regulation height, which is typically at least seven feet.

"There’s also the issue of windows. If the building is very wide, apartments or rooms near the center won’t have any.

"Even if building suitability were not an issue, the financial challenges are daunting. Developers are hesitant to take loans with mortgage rates at a 20-year high. Banks are wary of financing new projects. But the largest hurdle is that office towers remain too expensive. The market has changed post-pandemic, but many sellers aren’t prepared to slash prices enough — or to take a loss."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/interactive/2023/city-downtown-conversion-office-building/

[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics