Across Kansas City, it’s easy to find vacant office buildings and empty cubicles collecting dust.
Takeaways
- The Missouri General Assembly passed an office-to-residential conversion tax credit as part of a larger economic development bill this session. Economic development experts say it could help finance those types of projects.
- Office conversions are challenging for a number of reasons. Deep floor plans that lead to unused space, layouts designed using outdated zoning and safety codes and financial viability keep the number of projects low across the nation.
- However, the ability to revitalize downtown economies, environmental benefits and sometimes cheaper building costs still make conversions part of the solution to address Kansas City’s housing shortage issues.
The companies once housed there saw employees switch to remote work during the COVID-19 pandemic and never come back in-person. Or the companies downsized, moved or closed completely. Whatever the case, those buildings present a challenge to city planners attempting to revitalize the city’s urban core.
They could also be a solution to address vexing housing shortages.
Kansas City, with about 521,000 residents, is short an estimated 64,000 units of affordable housing, according to its Housing and Community Development Department. That’s including people in homes in disrepair or those overly burdened by housing costs who would benefit from more affordable housing…