Proponents of the formula say it kills two birds with one stone. Empty offices inherit a new life; aspiring tenants, a roof. The idea gaining ground in Quebec, The duty is interested in cities elsewhere that are beginning to test it.
In Paris, some owners of office buildings will soon be forced to provide housing, explains Audrey Camus, Vice-President Development and Asset Management for Europe at Ivanhoé Cambridge.
With her new “bioclimatic” Urban Plan, Mayor Anne Hidalgo wants to impose the addition of a maximum of affordable housing in their buildings. Building and renovation permits would therefore be conditional on this.
“It’s still very constraining. […] It’s the first capital that I’ve seen do that,” notes M.me Camus.
On the City of Paris website, an interactive map indicates, using dots, which areas would be subject to the Plan.
Is it a good idea ? “I don’t know,” replies M.me Camus. It can have two effects. Either it freezes things, and investors do nothing or [ils font] minimalist renovations to avoid asking for permits. […] Or, the opposite effect is that, under duress, it will happen. »
To his knowledge, no major conversion project has been launched in the City of Light yet. The urban plan is heading for consultations and should normally be adopted in 2024.
The effects of the pandemic may have subsided in the West, but teleworking has taken hold, leaving office towers almost deserted. With the housing crisis continuing, and the increase in homelessness in city centres, the idea of converting offices seems less and less far-fetched.
“Is this the answer to the housing crisis? columnist Matt Haber recently asked in the British daily The Guardian. In San Francisco, 73% of office space is unused, while the United States has a deficit of 3.8 million housing units, he pointed out. “After all, these two problems could solve each other. »
It wouldn’t be the first time this had happened. During the 1980s, a large number of old deserted factories had been converted into large lofts, he also recalled.
Chicago, pioneer in America
For now, the phenomenon remains marginal, but the formula is undergoing its first tests. On our side of the ocean, the City of Chicago, renowned for its architectural ambition, is at the forefront in this matter. In September, the municipal administration launched a major competition to finance housing inclusion projects in large buildings on LaSalle Street, in the business district.
Six major projects are to be presented on March 2, at a public meeting. The developers propose to develop hundreds of studios in the towers they own. The City required that one third of the units be affordable, that is to say that the total income of tenants does not exceed US$50,040 for a couple. Hundreds of millions of dollars of investment are at stake.
The LaSalle project is part of a larger effort to revitalize downtown Chicago with a view to making it a model of innovation for the entire country. Public art competitions are also on the program.
The conversion of offices into housing is a trend that also affects San Francisco, whose city center has suffered more than the others from the enthusiasm for teleworking. A first project of its kind – Warfield – is in the cards. The developer proposes to convert five floors of offices, above its performance hall, into apartments. A total of 34 small dwellings would be built, including 7 in the “affordable” category.
Closer to home, in Alberta, three office buildings in Edmonton and Calgary have been transformed into apartment buildings. Beyond the benefits for housing, the promoter — Strategic Group — says it is motivated by the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHG). The conversions of buildings generate 80% less GHG than constructions, underlined its vice-president, in December, to the magazine Maclean’s.
And in Quebec?
At home, the subject has been raised particularly in connection with the homelessness crisis. “We know that we will never come back to offices the same way. In the city center, there are empty offices everywhere,” recently mentioned Céline Bellot, professor of social work at the Université de Montréal, in an interview with the Duty. “Yes, we must build [du logement social] but, at the same time, there is an underutilization of many places. »
In January, the president of the Old Brewery Mission, James Hughes, had advanced on the same ground in an interview with the Montreal chainCityNews. “We are very good at converting hotels and churches into housing,” he said. Why not also convert offices?
The City of Montreal is “exploring” different scenarios, says the head of urban planning on the executive committee, Robert Beaudry. The reflection was “started even before the pandemic” and has been “accelerated” since.
A good part of the city center already has a mixed zoning, which would allow this kind of project, he mentions at the outset. “The issue is not necessarily at the level of the regulations, but more of the technical challenges linked to the conversion, such as the places of access and the height of the premises. »
For now, Montreal hasn’t started anything, but the interest is there. “We are looking at what could be the ways of accelerating the transformation of certain buildings, which buildings could be interesting. »
Class C buildings targeted
Meanwhile, the subject is certainly talking in the housing community, notes Jean-Marc Fournier, president of the Urban Development Institute of Quebec.
“It is possible that some buildings — probably class C — could be converted,” he says. Class C refers to constructions of lesser value. They are older, but have no cachet and are located in less popular areas.
But, here again, the technical constraints are enormous. “It’s more a question of architecture than of will,” he continues. “The mechanics, the plumbing, the surface area of the office buildings don’t necessarily lend themselves to this. »
For example, the windows concentrated around these buildings limit the natural light available for future housing. Also, the plumbing is designed for large shared bathrooms, not for small dwellings.
Findings similar to those made in Paris, according to Mme Camus: “The first obstacle to this is the processing cost. Certainly, she says, the beautiful buildings of the “Haussmann” type could easily be converted since they are precisely old apartments which have been converted into offices in the past. Except that they are so “well placed” that the market weighs rather so that we leave them in offices.
“On the other hand, the buildings built during the 1980s, 1990s with completely glazed facades, relatively thick, they were not designed to be transformed into housing. So the cost of transformation is very high,” she says.
In many cases, it would be more realistic to demolish and rebuild. “But here, we come up against the carbon footprint of the demolition. »
Finally, beyond the feasibility, we must take into account the message we send, underlines Jean-Marc Fournier. “What is the future of office buildings? What is the future of city centers? Is telework here for a long time? […] I wouldn’t throw in the towel today for a downtown type of place of business [avec] large offices. »