HOW ZONING SHAPES COMMUNITIES

THE GOOD, BAD AND HOPEFUL ASPECTS 

OF THE CENTURY-OLD TOOL THAT DETERMINES

EVERYTHING ABOUT THE PLACES WE LIVE, WORK AND PLAY

Salim Furth, senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, said adaptive re-use has worked in older, smaller mid-rise and high-rise buildings. 

But it will not work in office buildings with large floorplates (center units would have no windows) or single-story office park office buildings, which are too expensive to convert.

He said cities that are serious about affordable housing should buy older units to preserve existing workforce housing, and that the office apocalypse — many offices barely half full because of work from home after COVID that continues — can be addressed via zoning reform.