Inside the Plan to Turn Empty Downtown Offices Into 1,200 Apartments

Three office towers that have sat mostly empty since 2021 could become 1,200 apartments under a proposal unveiled Tuesday by a group of local developers. The plan, presented to reporters and city officials in the lobby of one of the towers, would transform a stretch of downtown that has grown noticeably quiet after business hours. If approved, it would be the largest office-to-residential conversion in the city’s history.

The plan would gut the buildings’ interiors, add balconies and cut light wells into the center of each floor — the most expensive part of any office-to-residential conversion. Developers say the work will take about four years. Neighbors, housing advocates and city leaders are already asking a central question: who will be able to afford to live there?

The towers and the proposal

The three buildings sit within two blocks of each other near the center of downtown. Built between the late 1970s and the early 1990s, they once housed law firms, insurance offices and regional banking operations. Occupancy dropped sharply in 2021 as many employers shifted to remote and hybrid work, and several major tenants did not renew their leases.

The development group, a partnership of three local real estate firms that formed specifically for this project, said it has agreements in place to purchase all three towers from their current owners, contingent on city approval of the plan.

What the conversion involves

Turning an office building into apartments is far more complicated than putting up a few walls. Office floors are typically deep, with large interior areas far from any window. Residential building codes require natural light and fresh air in bedrooms and living spaces, which means much of that interior space cannot be used as-is.

The developers’ solution is to cut light wells, open shafts that run vertically through the center of each building, bringing daylight and air to inner units. According to project documents, the work would include:

• Removing interior walls, ceilings and outdated mechanical systems on every floor.
• Cutting light wells through the center of each tower.
• Adding balconies to many units on the outer walls.
• Installing new plumbing, kitchens and bathrooms for each apartment.
• Upgrading elevators, fire protection and heating and cooling systems.
• Converting ground floors to retail, a fitness room and shared lounges.

The developers said the light wells are the single most expensive element of the project, a common finding in conversions of this kind. They declined to share a full cost estimate, saying it would be included in their formal application to the city.

The affordability question

City rules require 15 percent of new units to be affordable for households earning 60 percent of the area median income. The developers are asking for a tax break in exchange for raising that share to 25 percent.

Under that offer, about 300 of the 1,200 apartments would be set aside at reduced rents, compared with about 180 under the current rules. The remaining units would rent at market rates. The developers said the mix of unit sizes would include studios, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments, with a smaller number of three-bedroom units intended for families.

Housing advocates at the Downtown Tenants Union said the offer was a good start but asked for a public hearing before any agreement is signed. In a statement, the group said it wanted to know how long the affordable units would stay affordable, how tenants would be selected and how large the tax break would be over time.

How the tax break would work

Details of the requested tax break were not made public on Tuesday. Developers said they were seeking a reduction in property taxes for a fixed number of years, a tool the city has used before to encourage housing construction. City finance staff will review the request and estimate how much revenue the city would give up compared with the additional affordable units it would gain.

Several council members said they were open to the idea but wanted those numbers before taking a position. One member noted that the city should weigh the cost of the tax break against what it would otherwise spend to create 120 additional affordable units on its own.

Business leaders see a safer downtown

Downtown business groups welcomed the proposal. Many shops and restaurants near the towers have struggled since office workers stopped coming in five days a week. Owners say more residents would mean more customers in the evenings and on weekends, when sidewalks are now largely empty.

A lit-up window downtown at 9pm does more for public safety than any new camera.

Marcus Lee, Downtown Business Alliance

Lee said the alliance has been urging the city to support residential conversions for several years and hoped the project would encourage owners of other half-empty buildings to consider similar plans. A cafe owner on the ground floor of a neighboring building told the Ledger that her business depends almost entirely on weekday lunch traffic, and that new residents would give her a reason to stay open later.

Why conversions are rare

Office-to-residential conversions have been discussed in cities across the country, but relatively few large projects have moved forward. Industry observers often point to the same obstacles: deep floor plates, plumbing that is concentrated in a single core, windows that do not open and high purchase prices for buildings that still carry older office valuations. In many cases, it is simply cheaper to build new apartments from scratch on an empty lot.

The developers said falling office values downtown had changed that math. Because the three towers have been largely empty for years, their purchase prices are lower than they would have been before 2021, which helps offset the high cost of light wells and new building systems.

Concerns from neighbors

Not everyone is convinced. Residents of a nearby historic district have raised questions about traffic, parking and the strain on local services. Downtown has few grocery stores, no public elementary school within walking distance and limited green space. Adding 1,200 apartments, critics say, would require more than new kitchens and balconies.

Others worry about construction. Converting three large towers at once could mean years of closed sidewalks, cranes and delivery trucks in an area already dealing with road work. The developers said they would stagger construction so that the towers are not all at the same stage at once, and would present a traffic management plan as part of their application.

Questions the city will weigh

City planning staff said they would review the proposal against several key questions before making a recommendation:

1. How large is the tax break, and what does the city gain in return?
2. How long would affordable units remain affordable?
3. Can downtown schools, parks and transit absorb new residents?
4. How will construction be managed to limit disruption?
5. Does the plan meet building, fire and accessibility codes?

What happens next

The developers expect to file a formal application with the city planning department within the next two months. That will begin a review process that includes staff analysis, a planning commission hearing and a final vote by the City Council. The Downtown Tenants Union said it would ask the council to schedule an additional public hearing focused specifically on affordability.

If approved, construction would begin next spring, with the first apartments ready in 2029. Whether that timeline holds will depend on how quickly the city reviews the plan and how smoothly the complex work of converting three aging towers proceeds.