What Is A Candidate For Office Conversion?
Welcome to The Real Estate Espresso Podcast, your morning shot of what’s new in the world of real estate investing. I’m your host, Victor Menasce, and on today’s show, we’re discussing the conversion of office space.
The problem with most office buildings is that they are the wrong shape for apartments. Many office buildings are square, while most apartment buildings are rectangular, L-shaped, or even U-shaped. Apartments need lots of windows, but offices, although they benefit from natural light, struggle with glare that makes it harder to read the screens on your desk.
For instance, in New York City, it’s common to find office buildings that measure 200 feet by 200 feet. These floor plates are so large that you end up with nearly one acre of land on each floor of the building, creating too much area in the core.
So, the question we’re exploring today is: What’s the maximum dimension you can have in a square building and still manage a viable conversion project? We’ll be using a case study of an office building that’s part of the Canada Research Park in Ottawa, Canada.
The building in question’s an 11 story structure measuring 51 meters by 51 meters, or 167 feet on a side. While it’s not an ideal shape for residential, and the floor plate is pretty big, the architect has surprisingly designed an efficient unit layout. The commercial ground floor with apartments on the upper levels consists of a total of 115 apartments.
While converting an office building to residential has many obstacles—you’ll need to fully gut the building, drill thousands of holes into the concrete slabs for the plumbing, and replace all open windows—it still can make for a successful conversion project. But the numbers have to work, and that requires getting the base building at a low enough price.
In closing, pay close attention to the types of buildings that might be candidates for conversion. As you consider this, enjoy the rest of your day and continue to make brilliant buildings happen. We’ll talk to you soon.
Stay connected and discover more about my work in real estate and by visiting and following me on various platforms:
Real Estate Espresso Podcast:
- 🎧 Spotify: The Real Estate Espresso Podcast
- 🌐 Website: www.victorjm.com
- 💼 LinkedIn: Victor Menasce
- 📺 YouTube: The Real Estate Espresso Podcast
- 📘 Facebook: www.facebook.com/realestateespresso
- 📧 Email: podcast@victorjm.com
Y Street Capital:
- 🌐 Website: www.ystreetcapital.com
- 📘 Facebook: www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital
- 📸 Instagram: @ystreetcapital
