With all of the commercial real estate sitting empty these days, many wonder why it can’t be adapted into housing to chip away at a supply crisis. Part of the issue is the lengthy rezoning process. A piece of bipartisan legislation, House Bill 2297, would require cities to allow adaptive reuse or multifamily development of commercial buildings as long as they don’t exceed maximum residential density. Not all buildings will be candidates, but certain structures—particularly former motels and hotels, which already have plumbing—would be ideal for becoming housing.
