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In the past two years, Minneapolis contractor Adolfson & Peterson Construction has seen a record number of adaptive reuse projects across the United States.
Adaptive reuse can include the repurposing of architecturally significant buildings into modern uses, but most often it’s the transition of vacant and underutilized buildings to a new use, according to Will Pender, AP president, Gulf States.
Pender said such conversions tend to make more sense in downtown office districts that offer access to restaurants, entertainment and other amenities. On the other hand, adaptive reuse is complicated for suburban offices because of zoning and a lack of walkable services, he said.
Here, Pender talks to Construction Dive about the rise of office conversions and the challenges of building in city centers.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Build Immersion: Are you seeing more conversions in your markets?
WILL BE: AP is asked to reduce the price of adaptive reuse projects two or three times a month. As the office landscape continues to change, we’ll see more of these projects come to fruition.
Will Pender
Permission granted by Adolfson & Peterson
In my region, downtown Dallas has over 20 active construction and development projects currently underway, converting outdated office space into multi-family units.
For example, AP is currently working on an adaptive reuse project at the Santander Tower in Dallas. AP built 300 multifamily units on 14 floors of former office space in the 50-story building located in the city’s Main Street Historic District.
Building owners invested more than $70 million to upgrade all building systems, renovate common areas, including the lobby and plaza, as well as create a true vertical mixed-use development with dining options in situ, a boutique hotel and residential transformation.
What challenges have you seen in these projects?
An office-to-multifamily conversion concept is truly a win-win, but it has challenges like building with busy offices around you, vertical transportation of workers and equipment in and out of the building, and parking for hundreds of workers that they arrive in the city center daily.
Mastering the logistics of these construction projects requires a lot of planning. For Santander, there is a goods lift and dock space available, which presents a challenge in moving people and material up and down, as well as taking construction debris to the waste bins at ground level
Since we only have one dock, we can’t have the drywall ready for deliveries working alongside the plumber while we try to get the trash out. A lot of planning was required from the beginning, which has been one of the biggest lessons learned on this project.
Noise can be another logistical challenge and concern for these projects. In our Santander project, the swimming pool was under construction directly next to occupied executive office spaces, meaning that much of the work was done after hours or at weekends so as not to disturb the environment of work
Another challenge of adaptive reuse is keeping the exterior of the building consistent with its original design. Often this means leaving the building skin alone.
How do you deal with these issues?
AP has employed some creative solutions to meet the challenges of building in an active office environment. We implemented water detection control systems to ensure that if a water leak did occur, it was not imposed on the office tenants.
We also devised a delivery tracking process that allowed us to streamline our schedule down to the hour and sometimes even to the minute.
Why do you think they are so popular right now?
As the cost of single-family home ownership rises, many potential buyers remain in rental housing, and there are currently not enough multi-family homes to meet current or future demand, creating opportunities for building owners to offices looking to fill their towers.
Adapting a structure instead of building a new one can save time and it can also save money. The construction process for adaptive reuse is often 25% to 40% faster because the site is already under control and entitled. Meanwhile, renovation costs for adaptive reuse are reduced by up to 40% compared to new construction.
Adaptive reuse projects are also key to sustainability efforts. They reduce the amount of waste going to landfill by reusing what is there, while preparing it for people to live in and enjoy a vibrant downtown environment.
What other benefits are there?
Adaptive reuse allows a faster build to market because we don’t have to build the core and shell building, avoiding significant costs. Speed to market means the first units are delivered to the owner in eight to nine months versus 17 to 18 months; essentially halving the time to bring apartments to users.
One of the most exciting aspects of adaptive reuse projects focuses on saving the bones of beautiful existing downtown buildings and giving them new life for many people to enjoy for years to come. Now, where someone took a place, someone else can enjoy life and get a good night’s sleep in their home.
It is also attractive to work in a vibrant environment rather than a half-occupied building. Where the building once had large vacant offices, now you may have half the tower filled with multi-family residents or hotel guests and the remaining office fully occupied.
This creates a buzz and vibrancy, giving the building a pulse and heartbeat that matches the city around it.
What else do you think about when the new year begins?
AP remains very bullish on the mission-critical market across the country. With the continued growth of artificial intelligence and other technologies such as drone delivery, we continue to see increased demand for data processing and storage.
We also see favorable conditions for the growth of life sciences in Texas due to the existing skilled workforce in this area.
