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Q&A

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Real questions from readers, answered by vetted real estate experts — investors, operators, and proptech builders.

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Which office buildings are actually good conversion candidates?

Housing & Urban PolicyThe Future of Office
GW
Grace Whitman
Principal, Foundry Workplace Advisors

Three hard screens, in order. Floor plate depth — past roughly 90 feet window-to-window and you get dark interiors no layout fixes. Plumbing — office cores cluster wet stacks centrally; residential wants them distributed, and re-running risers is where budgets die. Curtain wall — if it can't open or be cheaply…

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Asked by Sofia Rossi02 expert answers

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Office-to-residential conversion: what kills deals in due diligence?

Housing & Urban PolicyThe Future of Office
BH
Brad Hargreaves
Founder & Editor, Opensqft

Three screens before anything else: Floor plate depth — anything much past 90 feet window-to-window leaves you with dark bedrooms or donut corridors that destroy efficiency. Plumbing risers — office cores cluster wet stacks centrally; residential wants them distributed. Retrofitting risers through occupied-floor slabs…

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Asked by Sam Rivera01 expert answer
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