Early in October, BSH and TRD brought the NYC real estate community together for an evening of networking and brainstorming about one of RE’s hottest topics. The event, hosted at the stately BSH Experience and Design Center in Manhattan, gave VIPs a chance to hear a trio of office-to-resi experts speak about their experience turning historic buildings into luxury rentals and condos in a city where demand for housing has never been greater.
“We have a 1.4% vacancy rate, which is a historical low in New York,” said Woody Heller of Branton Realty Services. “There is a virtually unlimited demand in New York City for rental housing.”
To meet this demand, the city has created incentives to fuel office-to-resi conversions both for rentals and condos.
“We finally do have an incentive program that was passed in April, as well as the City of Yes and some of the zoning changes,” said Robert Fuller, Residential Leader and Studio Director at Gensler, the architecture firm behind Pearl House, NYC’s largest office-to-resi conversion. “New York is ahead of the pack.”
While the conversion process still faces challenges, from fitting residences into large office floorplates to finding lenders for the projects, developers and architects are gaining experience with the process, making each project that much smoother. With more office space becoming obsolete and demand for housing continuing to rise, the volume of these conversions will only continue to grow.
“If you believe that whatever the market is has a velocity, you’re better off converting to condominium. You’re just going to create an enormous amount of value,” said Daniel Lebensohn, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of BH3 Management, whose firm is active in the office-to-resi space. “It’s the ultimate form of recycling.”
BSH Home Appliances and it’s brands, Bosch, Thermador, and Gaggenau, are the exclusive appliance brands of The Real Deal. To feature your project in the video series Developer Diaries or get involved with events and other activations around the country get in touch with Ross Fox.