|
ballsalsa
Universally Loathed and Reviled



Registered: 03/11/15
Posts: 20,795
Loc: Foreign Lands
|
Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space 3
#28316927 - 05/12/23 08:17 AM (8 months, 12 days ago) |
|
|
Supposedly there is a real estate crash incoming on par with 2008 but in commercial real estate this time. Instead of panicking, cities should use this opportunity to tackle the housing crisis in ways that are both effective and affordable.
--------------------
Like cannabis topics? Read my cannabis blog here
|
The Ecstatic
Chilldog Extraordinaire


Registered: 11/11/09
Posts: 33,357
Loc: 'Merica
Last seen: 9 hours, 47 minutes
|
Re: Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space [Re: ballsalsa] 1
#28316940 - 05/12/23 08:23 AM (8 months, 12 days ago) |
|
|
That would be a very thoughtful response, solving two issues at once and making a net improvement for society.
However, we will simply end remote work and then bail out the real estate conglomerates/banks if that doesn’t do the trick.
--------------------
|
ballsalsa
Universally Loathed and Reviled



Registered: 03/11/15
Posts: 20,795
Loc: Foreign Lands
|
Re: Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space [Re: The Ecstatic]
#28316947 - 05/12/23 08:28 AM (8 months, 12 days ago) |
|
|
Probably.
--------------------
Like cannabis topics? Read my cannabis blog here
|
CHeifM4sterDiezL
Chief Globerts

Registered: 07/28/10
Posts: 22,529
Loc: United States
Last seen: 1 hour, 21 minutes
|
Re: Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space [Re: ballsalsa] 1
#28316970 - 05/12/23 08:42 AM (8 months, 12 days ago) |
|
|
The problem is these places are in debt up to thier eye balls on places that don't really make any money anymore. I thought it was like only the Chinese dumb enough to buy these places up but apparently these assholes were were just doing the housing bubble bullshit now in commercial real-estate and it's alot of fucking money. Yeah alot of shithole places in cities that were essentially crumbling got fixed up but everyone knew these companies were starting to move away from this shit and the pandemic pushed it over the edge finally. So once again it's a firestorm of municipalities being dumb as fuck and desperate, owners being dumb and greedy and creditors being exceptionally greedy. I was talking to my mom about this and she suggested they convert them to apartments and ship in migrants and people actually willing to work in this country to put them in. It all sounds good on paper but it requires a massive bail out and many of these places it's not easy/possible to convert all or some of the building to housing and would require alot of money to do so. I mean who's even gonna do all this work now that you people ruined the country by letting people just do whatever the fuck they want?
|
ballsalsa
Universally Loathed and Reviled



Registered: 03/11/15
Posts: 20,795
Loc: Foreign Lands
|
Re: Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space [Re: CHeifM4sterDiezL] 1
#28316974 - 05/12/23 08:50 AM (8 months, 12 days ago) |
|
|
Just make it a tax giveaway for banks who fund conversion projects that meet certain criteria or make the usual bailouts contingent on it
--------------------
Like cannabis topics? Read my cannabis blog here
|
CHeifM4sterDiezL
Chief Globerts

Registered: 07/28/10
Posts: 22,529
Loc: United States
Last seen: 1 hour, 21 minutes
|
Re: Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space [Re: ballsalsa]
#28316978 - 05/12/23 08:54 AM (8 months, 12 days ago) |
|
|
|
christopera
Stranger


Registered: 10/13/17
Posts: 14,201
Last seen: 49 minutes, 25 seconds
|
Re: Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space [Re: CHeifM4sterDiezL]
#28316989 - 05/12/23 09:05 AM (8 months, 12 days ago) |
|
|
Remote work is already getting rolled back in my city, not sure about others. All of the corporations have been doing like 2 days a week in office mandatory with a transition back into full time office work coming soon. My buddy pays a dude $50 a week to check his key card in and out of the office each day while he works remotely. He's a programmer at a bank, he rarely needs to see people face to face. $50 is cheaper than the bus for a week, and parking is like $22 a day, so it pays off easy. The guy that does the key cards does this for like 20 people apparently, so he's making pretty decent money by riding the elevator and scanning key cards. He probably works like 4 hours a day at most. I am sure they will get busted eventually, but nobody wants to go back except for managers who need to justify their existence.
Long story short, a lot of these companies have pretty long term agreements on these spaces, parking garages have been gutted by the lack of travel, and a lot of upper management is pretty redundant because most people are getting their work done without direct oversight. So the push to return is only growing.
-------------------- Enjoy the process of your search without succumbing to the pressure of the result. A Dorito is pizza, change my mind. Bank and Union with The Shroomery at the Zuul on The internet - now with %'s and things I’m sorry it had to be me.
|
Kryptos
Stranger

Registered: 11/01/14
Posts: 12,258
Last seen: 9 hours, 45 minutes
|
Re: Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space [Re: christopera]
#28317005 - 05/12/23 09:16 AM (8 months, 12 days ago) |
|
|
Converting office space into residential space is not trivial. To whit: I am currently sitting on one of 4-5 toilets (not sure how many in the women's) on the floor, which are all concentrated in one location. This is a pretty big floor. Easily fit a dozen 2-4 bed apartments on this floor.
Except, most of those apartments won't have bathrooms. Oops.
|
CHeifM4sterDiezL
Chief Globerts

Registered: 07/28/10
Posts: 22,529
Loc: United States
Last seen: 1 hour, 21 minutes
|
Re: Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space [Re: christopera]
#28317008 - 05/12/23 09:18 AM (8 months, 12 days ago) |
|
|
Sounds like a great way to get fired. I'm sure these people are doing a ton of work considering they're company doesn't even know they're not actually there. It's like the Seinfeld episode where Costanza goes on vacation when he's in line for a big promotion
|
christopera
Stranger


Registered: 10/13/17
Posts: 14,201
Last seen: 49 minutes, 25 seconds
|
Re: Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space [Re: CHeifM4sterDiezL]
#28317011 - 05/12/23 09:22 AM (8 months, 12 days ago) |
|
|
I think you have it backwards. Their work is getting done, so the company doesn't notice they aren't there.
Also, yeah, it wouldn't be an easy conversion. I was PM on a project where we added three floors of apartments to what was an office building and parking garage. The project was a fucking mess. Just to plumb each apartment meant raising floors (not destroying, physically making them higher), and that introduced all sorts of issues. The on shower was like 5'6" tall inside because of the way the plumbing had to go. Really dumb.
-------------------- Enjoy the process of your search without succumbing to the pressure of the result. A Dorito is pizza, change my mind. Bank and Union with The Shroomery at the Zuul on The internet - now with %'s and things I’m sorry it had to be me.
|
Kryptos
Stranger

Registered: 11/01/14
Posts: 12,258
Last seen: 9 hours, 45 minutes
|
Re: Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space [Re: christopera]
#28317035 - 05/12/23 09:39 AM (8 months, 12 days ago) |
|
|
Personally, I just barely do work. That way, the company doesn't notice if I'm there, not there, or playing phonescape.
|
burntkitty


Registered: 01/02/23
Posts: 494
|
Re: Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space [Re: christopera]
#28317042 - 05/12/23 09:44 AM (8 months, 12 days ago) |
|
|
according to the cop squating outside my buddies place. There's 7 empty house's for every homeless person. I don't think pandeyha wrong. The poor rico say the desert taste just like mafungo when I empty the huevos on gloria
-------------------- Hating America doesn't make one racist, it probably means they're the complete opposite. That's not it's name pilgrim Shia wang a genius he just kept showing his soft til the paparazzi stopped following Thought capitalism was suppose to stop these soviet union lines If you give me herpes, Ill give you AIDs What kind of sickness do they have for wanting the creative not creative. I can only imagine it's satanism
|
Randar
Model Employee



Registered: 01/18/23
Posts: 192
Loc: Chicago, IL
Last seen: 11 days, 6 hours
|
Re: Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space [Re: Kryptos] 1
#28317043 - 05/12/23 09:45 AM (8 months, 12 days ago) |
|
|
The New York Times had a pretty good article on the challenges of this recently. Doing this in old buildings is easy as they tended to be built with smaller footprints, in H or U or T shapes. This means you can easily convert into living space. The problem comes with these huge, box-shaped, cavernous buildings meant to house cubicle farms. You can't do the same thing as you would either end up with lots of living space with no windows, or real weirdly shaped spaces.
|
CHeifM4sterDiezL
Chief Globerts

Registered: 07/28/10
Posts: 22,529
Loc: United States
Last seen: 1 hour, 21 minutes
|
Re: Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space [Re: Randar]
#28317048 - 05/12/23 09:49 AM (8 months, 12 days ago) |
|
|
It's all possible it's just alot of fucking money.
|
Randar
Model Employee



Registered: 01/18/23
Posts: 192
Loc: Chicago, IL
Last seen: 11 days, 6 hours
|
Re: Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space [Re: CHeifM4sterDiezL]
#28317055 - 05/12/23 09:55 AM (8 months, 12 days ago) |
|
|
|
Kryptos
Stranger

Registered: 11/01/14
Posts: 12,258
Last seen: 9 hours, 45 minutes
|
Re: Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space [Re: Randar]
#28317069 - 05/12/23 10:13 AM (8 months, 12 days ago) |
|
|
What, you don't like living in a wedge shaped apartment with a single window in your bedroom wall and living room wall, and a cavernous walk-in closet that can't technically be called a bedroom because of the lack of windows but is actually the biggest room in the entire apartment?
|
burntkitty


Registered: 01/02/23
Posts: 494
|
Re: Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space [Re: Kryptos]
#28317103 - 05/12/23 10:59 AM (8 months, 12 days ago) |
|
|
Jodie foster was che in hotel artemis. After checking up on her own she probably tended to the wounded on the otherside.
Edited by burntkitty (05/12/23 11:16 AM)
|
ballsalsa
Universally Loathed and Reviled



Registered: 03/11/15
Posts: 20,795
Loc: Foreign Lands
|
Re: Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space [Re: Randar]
#28317420 - 05/12/23 04:05 PM (8 months, 12 days ago) |
|
|
Quote:
Randar said: The New York Times had a pretty good article on the challenges of this recently. Doing this in old buildings is easy as they tended to be built with smaller footprints, in H or U or T shapes. This means you can easily convert into living space. The problem comes with these huge, box-shaped, cavernous buildings meant to house cubicle farms. You can't do the same thing as you would either end up with lots of living space with no windows, or real weirdly shaped spaces.
That would be a problem in many places, no doubt, but in many others you could just change the zoning restrictions and watch as the developers come in to level the boxy office buildings and erect condos without any other incentive.
--------------------
Like cannabis topics? Read my cannabis blog here
|
Kryptos
Stranger

Registered: 11/01/14
Posts: 12,258
Last seen: 9 hours, 45 minutes
|
Re: Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space [Re: ballsalsa] 1
#28317558 - 05/12/23 06:04 PM (8 months, 12 days ago) |
|
|
The problem is that the areas where this is the biggest problem, that would not be financially feasible.
The whole risk to the banking system comes from significantly overvalued land due to previous speculation. Unless you have a bunch of people lining up to buy extremely overvalued condos, you still need a financial meltdown first.
|
Brian Jones
Club 27



Registered: 12/18/12
Posts: 12,340
Loc: attending Snake Church
Last seen: 1 day, 3 hours
|
Re: Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space [Re: Kryptos]
#28318279 - 05/13/23 12:03 PM (8 months, 11 days ago) |
|
|
A big variable is higher interest rates. Discussion's above my pay grade, but most banks and other businesses didn't plan for this in their strategies because rates were low for 40 years. Some of the biggest and smartest fish will figure out how to profit on this, with smaller banks being the most obvious victims.
-------------------- "The Rolling Stones will break up over Brian Jones' dead body" John Lennon I don't want no commies in my car. No Christians either. The worst thing about corruption is that it works so well,
|
ballsalsa
Universally Loathed and Reviled



Registered: 03/11/15
Posts: 20,795
Loc: Foreign Lands
|
Re: Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space [Re: Brian Jones]
#28318325 - 05/13/23 01:09 PM (8 months, 11 days ago) |
|
|
Those fish are going to take huge concessions in exchange for buying out the "troubled assets" then lobby to have them rezoned as residential or mixed use properties anyway so they can build condos or shopping centers with luxury apartments overhead. All I'm saying is that cities should get out ahead of it before the biggest banks can consolidate it all.
--------------------
Like cannabis topics? Read my cannabis blog here
|
christopera
Stranger


Registered: 10/13/17
Posts: 14,201
Last seen: 49 minutes, 25 seconds
|
Re: Cities should encourage the conversion of empty office space [Re: ballsalsa] 2
#28321627 - 05/16/23 08:03 AM (8 months, 8 days ago) |
|
|
https://triblive.com/local/pittsburghs-ura-provides-1st-loan-to-help-convert-vacant-downtown-office-space-into-housing/
Quote:
Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority is awarding its first loan from a program that aims to help developers create affordable housing in vacant Downtown office space.
Last week, the URA board unanimously approved providing a $300,000, 0% interest loan to Hullett Development Triangle to help it convert unused space in the six-story Triangle Building on Liberty Avenue into 15 apartments.
The project is expected to cost nearly $13.3 million, said David DiBernardo, a lending analyst in the URA’s residential lending department.
“After years of neglect, this building has fallen into disrepair and became completely vacant,” he said. “This project will restore this historic triangle building to its former glory.”
-------------------- Enjoy the process of your search without succumbing to the pressure of the result. A Dorito is pizza, change my mind. Bank and Union with The Shroomery at the Zuul on The internet - now with %'s and things I’m sorry it had to be me.
|
|