How Office Conversions Can Reshape Cities

The Future of Downtowns: Office-to-Residential Conversions

A Changing Urban Landscape

Downtowns across the country are in flux. Office buildings that once thrived now sit empty or underused, the result of a post-pandemic shift in how and where we work. At the same time, demand for housing, especially in urban centers, has never been higher. One idea is gaining traction as a solution to both challenges: converting underutilized office buildings into housing. 

The Potential of Adaptive Reuse

On paper, it sounds like a win-win. Adaptive reuse can reduce construction costs by up to 30% compared to new builds, while also bringing new life to downtown districts. But like so many promising solutions to the housing crisis, office-to–residential conversions face familiar obstacles. 

The Challenges of Office-to-Residential Conversions

Architectural and Regulatory Hurdles

Architectural constraints, like floor plates, limited window access, and the layout of elevators and stairwells, can make retrofitting office buildings for residential use technically complex and economically risky. Zoning laws and building codes often don’t allow residential use in commercial corridors, requiring municipalities to undertake time consuming and costly regulatory changes. On top of it all, these projects must still financially pencil out in a high-cost, high-risk environment. 

Despite these hurdles, promising solutions are emerging. 

Innovative Approaches to Office Conversions

Two standouts from the Top 25 of the  2025 Ivory Prize for Housing Affordability, Gensler’s Conversions+ and the City of Boston’s Office to Residential Conversion Program, offer practical solutions to some of the biggest roadblocks. 

Gensler’s Conversions+ Software

Gensler has developed Conversions+, a software tool that evaluates 150 variables to determine whether an office building is a viable candidate for residential conversion. Site context, building form, floor plate size, envelope, and servicing infrastructure are all factored into a proprietary algorithm that delivers feasibility insights in a matter of days–cutting both time and cost from early-stage project evaluation. Already, Conversions+ is helping to unlock thousands of housing units across the U.S. and Canada. 

Boston’s Office-to-Residential Conversion Program

Since 2023, Boston has been advancing  innovative policies aimed  to make conversions feasible. Its Office-to-Residential Conversion Program offers tax abatements, streamlined permitting (nicknamed the “bullet train” by developers due to its speed), and by-right zoning. To ensure affordability, projects must include at least 20% on-site affordable housing for households earning up to  80% of the Area Median Income. In just a short time, this program has helped convert hundreds of former commercial office units into much-needed housing. 

The Future of Office-to-Residential Conversions

A Scalable Solution for Housing and Urban Revitalization

Office-to-residential conversions aren’t a silver bullet, but they’re a powerful opportunity to repurpose what we already have, respond to shifting urban dynamics, and expand housing supply faster and more flexibly than traditional development alone. With the right tools and policies in place, conversions could become an effective way to create more affordable housing in places that need it most.