EMMY PARK
Some people live to work and others work to live. Now, there’s a brand new class of Americans who blend both of those worlds — and it’s growing.
Five years following the stateside onset of COVID-19, and as work-from-home trends continue for many American office employees, New York; Washington, DC; Chicago and plenty of other cities are increasingly becoming home to office-to-residential conversions.
But it’s New York that’s really leading the pack. In the Big Apple, according to the latest RentCafe numbers out this week, 8,310 office units are set to be transformed into residential dwellings in 2025, marking a breathtaking 59% year-over-year increase.
However, that’s just what’s to come. Those currently on the hunt for a new home, and those who want to liven up cocktail-party chatter with fun facts about where they live, already have options in New York.
“I love to tell my work friends this building used to be the Goldman Sachs headquarters,” said 55 Broad St. resident Jack Curran, who works at a hedge fund. He shares a 900-square-foot two-bedroom apartment in the 2024-debuted luxury rental conversion with his new wife, Alexis Curran, who’s also a finance professional — as well as their two dogs, Snoop and Normie.
After living in the Financial District for the previous seven years, the couple was already sold on the neighborhood. They watched 55 Broad during its construction and jumped at the chance to live inside, moving there in early December.
Their favorite aspect of the home? Unlike the typical drab office space, this new unit floods with natural light, with Alexis adding, “It changes the whole mood of our day.”
New York is on top
Commercial real estate firm CBRE reports there are currently 2.9 million square feet of office-to-residential conversions underway in NYC, compared to 3.1 million square feet of new-development and office renovations.
“So far, there have been 10,000 apartments converted in 2024 or being planned in 2025 and beyond,” Robin Schneiderman, managing director of Brown Harris Stevens Development Marketing, told The Post — and they skew in favor of one type of housing. “Over 95% of those units will be rentals in 15 buildings, with five condos in the works only delivering approximately 250 new condominiums.”
This year already begun with a strong push. In late January, 25 Water St. launched leasing in the Financial District following a two-year renovation. The former home of Manufacturers Hanover Trust and JPMorgan Chase, as well as the New York Daily News and the National Enquirer, is the largest office-to-residential conversion in the nation’s history. The work yielded a whopping 1,320 units, with rents starting at more than $3,000 per month.
And there are some prominent developments on the horizon. Upcoming conversions include one for the famed Flatiron Building — a prominent addition to the housing landscape whose details still aren’t available — and the former Pzifer headquarters near Grand Central.
Conversion craze
This week’s RentCafe report shows that conversions are accelerating across the country. Nationwide, a record-breaking 70,700 units to be converted from office spaces are in the pipeline for 2025. In 2022, that in-the-works sum only reached 23,100 before nearly doubling in 2023 to 45,200. What’s more, office-to-residential conversions now account for almost 42% of the nearly 169,000 future conversion developments in the US — up from 38% in 2024.
The report adds this repurposing of offices into housing reflects a practical response to the growing need for housing. Still, it isn’t always easier than starting from scratch.
Office buildings have larger floorplates than residential construction, so accessing natural light in a conversion is a challenge. But Nancy Ruddy, of 55 Broad’s architecture firm CetraRuddy, said, “We can cut out courtyards from center shafts and take that square footage and put it on the top of the building or create wedding-cake setbacks.”
Everything’s bigger in Texas
While New York leads the charge, Dallas isn’t totally far behind. There, 2,725 office units are set to be converted into housing units in 2025, marking a 14% decrease from 2024, according to RentCafe’s study.
Already in that city’s downtown, the Peridot Residences have taken over 11 floors of the 50-story Santander Tower, sandwiched between active office spaces. Work on the project began in 2022, and started leasing in mid-2023.
Photographer Regina Kemple and her husband moved into their chic apartment there after relocating for his job. Boasting perks like parking, a gym, an outdoor pool, a lounge and workspaces, the building caters to their modern lifestyle. Kemple takes full advantage of the facilities — even braving the stares of 9-to-5 office workers gazing down as she works poolside.
However, the neighborhood is much less residential than they expected. “It feels very business-y here with offices everywhere and hotels across the street,” she said.
Despite a CVS and dry cleaner nearby, Kemple added, “There is absolutely no way we can get around and get everything we need without a car.”
Beyond New York and Dallas, the nation’s capital is nothing to sniff at — also ranking in RentCafe’s top 10 US cities leading the charge in these conversions. Coming in second place behind the Big Apple, Washington has 6,533 office spaces in the conversion pipeline for 2025, marking a 12% climb from 2024.
There, the former Foggy Bottom State Department office was converted into 158 apartments at the Wray, with studios available from $2,748 and one-bedrooms from $2,780, according to Apartments.com. The former US Department of Agriculture Cotton Annex was re-envisioned as a 562-unit luxury residential rentals, called Annex on 12th, with studios starting at $2,002 per month to two-bedrooms from $4,067 monthly, according to Apartments.com.
Phoenix, at No. 11, has 1,634 units in the pipeline this year, marking a 19% year-over-year boost. In the Midwest, and at No. 4, Chicago has 3,606 — an impressive 28% year-over-year jump, according to RentCafe.
The Windy City’s shining star is the 1925 headquarters for the Chicago Tribune on vibrant Michigan Avenue. Citing the Gothic building’s architectural history and significance, including its flying buttresses and the Gettysburg address inscribed on the tower’s crown wall, developer Lee Golub of Golub & Company, proclaims, “A building like this will never be built again.”
The lucky 162 condominium owners get to live in this historic building with forever protected views of Lake Michigan and the Chicago River.
The One
Back in New York, similarly, it all traces back to one luxury building in particular: Macklowe Properties’ One Wall Street, which took eight years to complete.
Stymied by knee surgery, Dr. Michael Aronoff, host of the “Psychiatry Show” on SiriusXM’s Doctor Radio station, found it difficult to get around his large Upper West Side apartment where he and his wife, Dara Welles Aronoff lived for the past 40 years.
Dara, a retired broadcaster, worked at WORO kitty-corner to One Wall Street her entire career, and always imagined living in the iconic building, which had long been home to the Bank of New York. The second she heard it was being converted to residences, she and her broker rented Michael a wheelchair, summoned an Uber and raced to see the apartment Dara hoped Michael would fall in love with.
“The minute they wheeled me and the doorman greeted me, I said ‘We’ll take it,’” said Michael.
The couple uses all of the building’s amenities, and Dara “feels very European as I shop daily at the Whole Foods on the ground floor and tuck bread under one arm and milk under the other.”
The couple closed on their 1,700-square-foot two-bedroom dwelling in April 2023. Not only do they enjoy the striking view of the iconic Trinity Church — whose graveyard is the final resting place of New York Post founder Alexander Hamilton — from their living room window, but they often stroll across the street to catch concerts and events.
“It’s not uncommon to hear people come off the street and ask the doorman if they can see inside. I am so proud of this building,” added Dara.