The White House kicked off a multiagency push on Friday to help finance real-estate developers convert more office buildings in big cities emptied by the pandemic into affordable housing, taking aim at the nation’s housing crisis.
The initiative looks to harness an existing $35 billion in low-cost loans already available through the Transportation Department to fund housing developments near transit hubs, folding it into the Biden administration’s clean energy push.
It also opens up additional funding sources and tax incentives, offering a new guidebook to 20 different federal programs that can be tapped by developers and offers technical assistance in what can end up being tricky and expensive conversions.
A third peg of the program will see the federal government draw up a public list of buildings it owns that could be made available for sale to help bolster development.
Office buildings are designed to be remodeled. Just about every time a new company comes in they remodel the space to fit their needs. This includes adding/removing kitchens, bathrooms, server rooms, lighting, HVAC etc…
Sure, you’re going to have to run a whole lot more plumbing for residential, maybe you even need a larger connection to the sewer but you’re already doing a full tear out, these things are inconsequential.
Somehow I’m supposed to believe it’s cheaper to build out from scratch rather than repurpose an existing structure? It makes no sense.