Commercial buildings usually have a community bathroom. Think of what it would take to re pipe for each unit. Plus every bathroom, kitchen hood and dryer would need to exhaust to a termination cap on the exterior of the building. Anyways I’m Sure it can be done but on some buildings it would be cost prohibitive
Perhaps for low priced units with lots of compromises. But plumbing, heating, cooling,... Would be a major cost driver alone, let alone sound proofing, and all the other issues. Does not sound easy not cheap as you make it out to be. Don't forget the building purchases alone make this a prohibitively expensive venture unless the current owners finance the conversions themselves.
The cost of conversion can be prohibitive, particularly in newer buildings. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive...5Eob5dpOx1q7XO9j-wwtBu0MjdprZK&smid=url-share
Some thoughts come to mind: 1. Feel so sorry for that 1 bedroom apartment that has the living/dining room (most likely) sitting on the former shared bathroom with 6 toilets and urinals of the former office building of Philidelphia. Making a mental note of ever buying a conversion in the future to ask for a floorplan of the former office building before the conversion. 2. Cutting out a hole to convert windowless office spaces into "windowful" residential units is ingenious!! That architecture firm should win an award for that idea. It's a little awkward though to stare into your neighbour's bedrooms across the hole from your own unless you are renting the added penthouse units but hey at least you got a window. LOL But reading from the google reviews, the same architecture/development firm is also the property management of the converted building at 180 water street new york and they are horrible, rude, aggressive and unscrupulous. The building is beautiful and nice but they treat their tenants really badly especially when it comes to renewing leases. The building currently has 2.5 rating on google review. What a shame. 3. Now I know why I was always so depressed while working in those offices and I always felt so claustrophobic and suffocating when attending those confusing meetings. I never knew what they were talking about in those meetings and never knew what they were trying to accomplish unless it was for picking on me. Because they have no windows!! Can't believe the cubicles were located 72 feet from a window, THREE times the distance from that of a pre-war office building!! It's appalling how much the corporate world enslaves us even in the office design just to whip us to work more and more like machines and robots. So glad I got out of there. And now I know why I work better as a trader because I trade right beside a window!! No basement trading for me. Wow reading this article has made me realize so many things. Great article, @zdreg! Thanks for posting.
They are definitely getting crucified right now. And it is one reason I am doubling/tripling down on these REITs while they are on a fire-sale. Many of them (may) go bust, but that will make the others stronger with lesser competition, so that works THAT out. The real threat, is all those call-centers that are being replaced by AI. But on the flip side, many of these types of businesses already out-sourced this stuff to over-seas in order to save a buck.
Because... of how the free-market works, in a competitive capitalist society, this shouldn't be as bad as you are fearing. Human ability can solve problems, just as good as politicians can fuck it all up. As a demand for new goods/services increases for this sort of conversion, you will see specialists pop up and get to work, learning the trade and figuring out methods to go about it and drop costs. As more demand will show, so will more competition arrive for these projects. This concept used to be a real thing after all... until woke America thought Socialism would work here ( I guess because it failed everywhere else?)
Agree the trend line has been set and it is staying the course. At location in SEA with boots on the ground and eyes peering the economic trenches. Housing is and will always be a necessity. One option for the system to take would be nano scale manufacturing. The days of old may return. Akuma
There is also an auto-loan risk for banks. However some other related industries are looking forward to a great expansion in business.
What is your own business? I feel the opposite. Work from home will be incremental for those types of jobs that are truly alone. I don’t see it working for most jobs without a productivity loss.