Empty office buildings and commercial spaces across Riverside could soon become apartments under a new Adaptive Reuse Ordinance the city just adopted — a move that creates a legal pathway for converting underused properties into housing.
The Notice of Exemption filed with the state establishes a regulatory framework and incentives to convert existing non-residential buildings — offices, retail, and commercial properties — into housing. It applies citywide to parcels zoned Commercial, Office, Residential, Mixed-Use, Industrial (BMP), and certain specific plan areas, all within previously developed, urbanized areas served by existing infrastructure.
The ordinance doesn’t greenlight any single development. Instead, it sets objective standards and regulations that make these conversions possible — removing the regulatory ambiguity that previously made them difficult to pursue.
What owners can and can’t do under the new rules
The ordinance enables the reuse and reconfiguration of existing building envelopes and allows limited, modest, and incidental additions consistent with current zoning. It does not authorize demolition or large-scale new construction…