Converting office space into housing can be one solution for the region’s housing crisis — but not the only solution

Montgomery County, along with the rest of the DC region, is in the midst of a dire housing crisis, largely caused by a housing shortage. As white collar workers have remained relatively slow to return to the office, there have been some calls, both nationally and locally, to convert currently empty office space into housing.

Converting office space to housing can be part of the solution. A couple condo buildings in my neighborhood, including the one next to mine in South Silver Spring, were previously office buildings; so was an apartment building up the street and a more recent condo conversion on the other side of downtown. This option is one of the many tools in the toolshed we should use to address the housing crisis.

But office to residential conversions are sometimes treated as a panacea, and a reason not to try any of the other solutions.

From NextDoor discussions to county meetings on land use and zoning changes, people seeking to avoid new construction and change to their neighborhoods have raised office conversions as an alternative, rather than a compliment to, upzoning relatively wealthy neighborhoods near transit to accommodate the region’s housing needs.

This is a problem for two main reasons. First and foremost this approach perpetuates exclusion and segregation. Downtown Silver Spring, around which much of the office-to-residential talk is centered, is a lower-income and more diverse area than the single family zoned neighborhoods surrounding it. The common refrain that there is “still room” in urban centers like downtown Silver Spring — so all development should be limited to it — effectively sends the message that people who can’t afford a detached home with a yard need to stay in the same places they always have.

The second reason this approach is problematic is that, like all other solutions, this one does not have sufficient capacity to work on its own. Even if every vacant office in Silver Spring, Bethesda, White Flint, and other Montgomery County centers were to be converted, the county would still likely fall short of the projected needs for the expected 200,000 new residents over the next 25 years.

And not every office building is a realistic candidate for office conversion. Some have large floor areas that would either put much of the would-be residential area away from windows or, in the words of Henry Grabar in Slate, form apartments in a “ring around a lightless core of wasted space.” HVAC, electrical, and plumbing conversion costs for things like kitchens and bathrooms can also be a barrier, making conversions more expensive and leading to higher rents and purchase prices.

Montgomery County’s planning department addressed this issue locally in a 2017 blog post, noting that there are indeed some areas of the county where the practice can sometimes pan out. The department writes that “the most likely candidates for office-to-residential conversion will be in locations where there’s strong market demand for multifamily housing. Such locations will have convenient transit options and are typically situated in urban, walkable environments with access to a host of amenities.” Areas that can support higher rents, such as downtown Silver Spring and Bethesda, can fit the bill.

However, the planning department writes, not all candidates are created equal:

“Offices that have smaller building depths and greater spacing between columns will be able to yield more dwelling units, making them better targets for conversions. Offices with less space dedicated to building core functions – such as elevators and stairwells – allow greater flexibility in floor plans and yield more dwelling units when converted. Lastly, office buildings with generous parking and a lower cost to rehabilitate plumbing, electrical and fire protection systems to meet residential codes will also be better candidates. While most office buildings in Montgomery County have some of these attributes, few if any, have all of them, making conversions inherently complicated.”

That last word — complicated — is key. Office conversion isn’t an impossible task, just a complicated one. People can, and should, advocate for these projects where they make sense; but too many advocate for them simply as a way to keep change out of their own neighborhoods. Montgomery County’s housing crisis is too big to focus on some tools to the exclusion of others.