Reimagining Community through Adaptive Reuse

Adaptive reuse is no longer a niche strategy, it’s the future of urban housing. As New York City confronts record-high office vacancies and urgent demand for residential units, converting existing structures is often the fastest, greenest, and most contextual path forward.

The Case for Conversion
According to the Converting Brown Offices to Green Apartments paper from NBER, converting older office buildings can reduce carbon emissions, cut construction costs by 30%, and deliver housing more quickly than ground-up developments. NYC alone has over 60 million square feet of potentially convertible space.

Our Adaptive Reuse Strategy
Parkside targets buildings with strong “conversion bones”: floor plates under 20,000 SF, high ceiling heights, and flexible zoning. We bring in designers early, work with preservation consultants, and model out yield-on-cost scenarios to ensure feasibility.

Design That Honors the Past
We don’t believe in erasure. Whether it’s a schoolhouse façade or a mid-century lobby, we work to preserve elements of the original architecture while adapting the layout for 21st-century living. This reduces waste and creates apartments with unique character and provenance.

Policy and Incentives
We support local and state policies that accelerate these projects, like New York’s proposed Office Conversion Accelerator and property tax abatements for reuse. Public-private cooperation is key to making adaptive reuse a true engine for housing creation.

Conclusion
Adaptive reuse is more than cost efficiency, it’s cultural continuity. In a city like New York, every building has a story. We aim to write the next chapter with care.

Sources

https://www.nber.org/papers/w31530

https://www.rebny.com/