this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2023
54 points (100.0% liked)
Boston, MA
1098 readers
29 users here now
Welcome to c/boston,
A community for all things related to Boston, Massachusetts. Whether you're a local, a visitor, or just interested in the city, this is the place to discuss, share, and connect with fellow Bostonians.
Greater Boston area discussion is welcome here.
Rules:
Be respectful: Treat others with respect and courtesy. Personal attacks, trolling, and harassment will not be tolerated.
Stay on topic: Keep discussions relevant to Boston and its surrounding areas.
Official City of Boston Website
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I doubt this will work. Office buildings are structurally and architecturally very different from residential buildings. In a recent case in my home city of Ottawa, it cost the developer the same amount to retool an office building for residential as it would have for them to tear it down and rebuild a new residental tower in its place.
I don't want to sound like an ass but... surely they've spoken to some developers about this and think there's scope for it to work.
Maybe things are different in Boston. The general rule is the older the office the better it will work, and I'm betting that Boston has some pretty old office buildings.
What I can say is that this is a pretty popular political football at the moment. I wouldn't be surprised if this it was initiated by the mayor and not the planning department.
One would think. You might be surprised.
There some that are looking into similar conversions in other cities:
https://www.fastcompany.com/90866323/too-big-too-small-no-these-offices-are-just-right-to-become-housing
^ San Francisco
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/cities-look-to-revive-downtowns-by-converting-offices-to-housing
^ New York