flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

High office vacancies have cities rethinking downtown zoning

Codes and Standards

High office vacancies have cities rethinking downtown zoning

Rezoning downtown cores from office to mixed use gaining favor.


By Peter Fabris, Contributing Editor | March 23, 2022
Downtown Offices
Courtesy Pixabay.

As record-high office vacancies persist in U.S. urban areas, cities are rethinking zoning policy.
 
More cities are modifying single-use downtown zoning to encourage office conversions to multifamily and mixed-use developments. And with good reason, as mixed-use neighborhoods on average have weathered pandemic shutdowns better than single-use business districts.
 
With most downtown-based workers embracing work-from-home options, the conception of office-only city districts that go vacant at night may be outmoded. In Washington D.C., for example, a record office vacancy rate of more than 18% has fueled a trend of office-to-apartment conversions.
 
Officials in D.C. and New York City are debating zoning changes to spur more of these conversions. New York officials are particularly focused on the mid-town Manhattan office district, though many towers targeted for conversion in that area were built in the 1960s. These buildings, with most of the square footage configured on large floor plates inside windowless building cores, make for a significant design challenge to convert them to residential use.

Related Stories

| Oct 28, 2011

Los Angeles County mulling building codes for improving health

An ordinance would amend county building codes to promote better walking environments, encourage more bicycling, improve access to healthy foods (farmers markets, community gardens), and enhance project review requirements to ensure that developers include healthy-lifestyle components in their building plans.

| Oct 28, 2011

Bipartisan opposition to federal 3% withholding for contractors

Both major political parties and the Obama Administration support repealing a law that would withhold 3% of all government contracts.

| Oct 28, 2011

OSHA requires training module on top causes of construction deaths

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) now requires a training module on the top four causes of death for construction workers.

| Oct 28, 2011

New York City requiring building energy use to be posted online

Owners of every New York City commercial and residential building larger than 50,000 sf will have to post each building’s energy use online by 2013.

| Oct 28, 2011

New ISO standard for escalator safety

A new ISO standard specifies safety requirements for escalators and moving walks.

| Oct 20, 2011

LEED 2012 to require real-time energy, water use reporting

The LEED 2012 rating system, set to launch in November 2012, will contain features to make sure buildings function as intended, and improve over time.

| Oct 20, 2011

New York City moving to speedier, online design reviews

New York City is moving towards a development design review process that will let officials and developers review blueprints for new projects online in a virtual conference room rather than in person.

| Oct 20, 2011

Michigan bill would let private firms operate as a city’s building department

Michigan House Bill 5011 would change state’s building code to allow private companies to operate as a municipality's building department.

| Oct 20, 2011

Alabama’s strict immigration law drives away construction workers

Alabama's strict new immigration law is driving many construction workers and roofers from the state.

| Oct 20, 2011

Fed bill would allow school rehab funding via historic tax credits

Virginia Sens. Jim Webb (D) and Mark Warner (D) introduced a bill this month to rehab aging schools across the country through the use of historic tax credits.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category




halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021