New York City is betting on converting aging office buildings into apartments to help ease a housing shortage. The city has championed these conversions, offering tax incentives to turn older vacant office buildings into livable spaces.

Challenges in Conversion

The conversion of the former Pfizer headquarters is among the most ambitious office-to-apartment projects in the country. However, the project has faced significant challenges, including a recent structural emergency that prompted the evacuation of the building and several others nearby.

Office-to-apartment conversions often require extensive structural, plumbing, mechanical, and redesign work, making the project more complicated than building new housing from scratch. The conversion of the former Pfizer headquarters is no exception, with the project involving the addition of 19 new stories atop one of the existing 10-story structures and the reconfiguration and recladding of the adjoining 33-story tower.

Despite the challenges, city leaders hope that conversions can help solve New York City’s worst housing affordability crisis in decades. The city has updated its zoning code to allow non-residential buildings like offices to be turned into housing, and developers are working to convert existing buildings into apartments.

The success of these conversions will depend on the ability of developers to reassure future residents that converted buildings are safe. The structural emergency at the Pfizer building has raised concerns about the safety of these conversions, and the city will need to investigate the cause of the emergency and take steps to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Original reporting: KRDO (Colorado Springs metro) — read the source article.