Office-to-residential conversions reach a new high in Midtown South

Three more Midtown South towers filed for conversion this week, adding an estimated 1,400 apartments to a pipeline that has nearly doubled in a year.¹ The filings, all for buildings emptied during the office downturn, are the largest single week on record for the district.²

All three buildings changed hands in the past two years, each for less than its last recorded price.³ The city's conversion incentive offers a tax abatement in exchange for affordable units.⁴

City rules require a window within 30 feet of most habitable rooms.⁴ Of the 31 buildings in the conversion pipeline, 27 were built before 1960.¹ Newer towers, with deep floors and central cores, account for four.