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Between 2021 and 2024, the office-to-multifamily conversion pipeline grew from 12,100 ongoing units to more than 55,000, according to a new report from RentCafe. Many of these projects can be found in major metropolitan areas that have a large amount of vacant and aging office space, led by Washington, DC, with 5,820 units underway and New York City with 5,215.
While starting a new multifamily are generally declining, conversion projects now under active development or construction represent an all-time high. Below is a sampling of some of the largest conversion projects underway in the nation’s most active office-to-multifamily centers, according to RentCafe.
Carrer de l’Aigua 25
CetraRuddy
Developer: GFP Real Estate
Location: New York
Units: 1,263
Status: Under construction
New York developers GFP Real Estate and Metro Loft Management are in the process of converting the 22-story, 1.1 million-square-foot office tower at 25 Water Street in New York City’s Financial District into a 1,263 apartments.
Originally built in 1969, 25 Water Street offers views of lower Manhattan and New York Harbor from every floor, and is surrounded by 2 acres of street-level plazas and parks. With a loan of more than $538 million, it is poised to be one of the largest office-to-multifamily conversions in the U.S., according to Newmark consulting firm based in New Yorkwho arranged the loan.
Units will range from studios to four bedrooms, with 12-foot ceilings taken from the original building plan. Facilities will include a basketball court, a steam room and sauna, indoor and outdoor pools, sports simulators and a landscaped roof terrace, among other entertainment and co-working spaces.
Ames Center
Shalom Barnes Associates
Developer: Snell properties
Location: Arlington, Virginia
Units: 740
Status: approved
Arlington, Virginia-based developer Snell Properties is in the process of redeveloping 1820 Fort Myer Drive, currently home to the Ames Center office building, into a mixed-use site with two residential towers totaling 740 units, including an affordable component.
The property, originally developed by Snell in 1966, is adjacent to the Rosslyn Metro Station and within walking distance of two bridges over the Potomac River to downtown Washington, DC. The redevelopment plan also calls for commercial and office space, a space of 225 rooms. hotel and the reconstruction of a church and gas station that are currently on the site.
The project proposal was approved by the Arlington County Board in January 2021.
The Centenary
Developer: The Millennia Cos.
Location: Cleveland
Units: 584
Status: Under construction
Cleveland, Ohio-based real estate firm The Millennia Cos. plans to redevelop The Centennial, a 100-year-old office structure in downtown Cleveland, into a suggested mix workforce housing, retail and office space, a hotel, a museum and a high-end restaurant.
Originally built in 1924 as the Union Trust Building, the 1.4 million-square-foot property has been vacant for nearly a decade, according to Millennia. The restaurant would be located in the building’s original banking room, while the museum component would include exhibits curated by the Western Reserve Historical Society.
Construction is underway on the property, according to local news channel Cleveland Scene.
135 South LaSalle St.
Courtesy of Riverside Investment & Development
Developers: Riverside Investment & Development, AmTrust RE
Location: Chicago
Units: 430
Status: proposal
An adaptive reuse proposal for 135 South LaSalle St., developed by Chicago-based Riverside Investment & Development and New York City-based AmTrust RE, was one of three proposals. selected March 2023 to obtain financial support from the City of Chicago.
The the plan asks convert the site’s 1.3 million-square-foot office property into 430 apartments, 129 of which would be affordable. Other components include rooftop amenities, parking and 80,000 square feet of retail and service space. The estimated cost of the project is $258 million, and developers aim to open the residential portion in 2025.
Kierland sky
Shepley Bulfinch
Developer: Kierland Sky LLC
Location: Scottsdale, Arizona
Units: 420
Status: In development
Kierland Sky LLC, which represents owners Ted and Yuuki Akiba, plans to demolish the 7.8-acre low-rise professional park located at 14635 N. Kierland Boulevard and redevelop the site into a mixed-use center with a total of 420 residential units.
The plan, approved in October 2020 and was amended in 2022calls for three multi-family residential buildings, amenity spaces on lower levels and open green spaces converted from existing parking lots.
