Summary of “The Case for Conversions: Understanding opportunities for conversions of office space to housing in Canadian downtowns”
A recent report from the Canadian Urban Institute says there is the potential to create up to 22,000 housing units in just 11 Canadian cities through office conversions while making downtown districts “vibrant, equitable, livable, and resilient.”
The report, entitled “The Case for Conversions: Understanding opportunities for conversions of office space to housing in Canadian downtowns,” looked at the potential in six cities – Victoria, Regina, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Halifax, and Moncton. It outlined four conditions that enable conversions: building types, policy/regulatory context, location, and market conditions. It also offered viable solutions to financial and policy barriers and the opportunity to rethink how to plan and build cities.
The pandemic changed work patterns and locations by requiring remote working for many occupations. As a result, office vacancy rates are high or increasing in many markets, creating a void that could be filled by the high demand for housing, says the 71-page report.
“In each city, we found examples of best practices and an inventory of office buildings identified as feasible for conversion,” the report states. “These buildings represent typologies that exist in cities across Canada.”
The report notes that office conversions offer developers quicker timelines for approval and completion with similar costs to a new build. For building owners, it can provide a new or mixed form of revenue by transforming an obsolete asset. Organizations with a large portfolio, like Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS) or provincial and federal governments, can help achieve climate targets aligned with Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) goals, and support housing creation.
“Despite the complexity that conversions can present, our research demonstrates there are benefits to investing in office conversions in the appropriate location, under certain market conditions and for buildings with specific characteristics,” the report states.
It says conversions also support downtown revitalization to achieve a healthier mix of housing types, a diversified tax base, 24/7 economy, larger residential population, more sustainable built form and the preservation of heritage buildings. Additionally, the climate benefits of both preserved embodied energy in the buildings and the opportunity for building retrofits that would result in increased energy performance and longer lifespans for existing buildings are significant. In addition, municipal governments risk the future loss of tax revenue by not pursuing conversions.
The report says Canadian cities have lagged other cities around the world in not establishing processes and policies that make office-to-housing conversions easier and more appealing. “In the time that Ottawa created 500 residential units through conversions, for example, American and European cities created thousands,” the reports says.
Read the report: https://canurb.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Case-for-Conversions-FINAL.pdf
An answer to the housing crisis could be lurking in an empty office building
