A vacant office building steps from Boston Common would be converted into 22 apartments under the latest proposal submitted in the city’s new office-to-residential conversion pilot program.
The study recommendations offer “consistent and fair baseline and bonus heights” for new projects, the draft plan states, replacing a mishmash of more than 20 height limits.
Public subsidies could be the next tool in Boston’s bid to revive the downtown economy through conversions of neglected offices into housing as concerns mount that zoning incentives won’t be enough.
Not long ago, Boston’s traditional center of business and commerce appeared poised for a glorious new future as the city’s newest residential neighborhood. But even if the city chips in money for conversions, a big transformation could prove costly.
The conversion push is marked by an emphasis on affordability and serious tax breaks for developers to incentivize office-to-housing conversions.
As remote and hybrid work entrench themselves, Boston’s class B office market looks like potentially fertile ground for conversion into thousands of new housing units.
