Office-to-Residential Conversions Gain Momentum in Boston

A tax break program announced by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu in summer 2023 and backed by the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) could see 104,000 ft² of office space in eight downtown Boston, Massachusetts, buildings transformed into 170 apartments, The Architect’s Newspaper is among outlets to report. Developers that applied to BPDA are Boston Pinnacle Properties, KS Partners and Equity Residential, which have designs on a six-story, brick-and-mortar building at 281 Franklin Street in the Financial District and another 10-story, turn-of-the-20th century structure at 85 Devonshire Street in the Downtown Crossing area, among others. These are pre-war, brick-and-mortar buildings, which are far easier to convert than glass-and-steel 1970s office towers with their deep floor plates and bulky cores. Like cities including NYC, Boston hopes to address both an ailing office market exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the housing shortage.