Developers are converting offices in Manhattan into apartments at the highest rate in almost two decades as they turn to underused buildings to help plug demand for housing in New York City.
Construction to convert office buildings into residential ones has begun on 4.1mn rentable square feet in Manhattan this year, the most since 2008, when there were 4.8mn square feet of conversions, according to data from commercial property services firm Cushman & Wakefield.
“Residential conversions have emerged as one of the most notable shifts in New York City’s real estate landscape since the onset of the pandemic,” said Reed Hatcher and Lori Albert, the report’s authors.