In an article for the Journal of Property Management, Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Bria Smith-Edwards explored the potential of adaptive reuse projects to address the lack of affordable housing in the United States.
"Professional associations, including IREM and NAIOP, have served as vocal advocates for the federal government to incentivize the adaptive reuse of vacant and underutilized office buildings and other structures," Bria said. "They're doing this to help address the severe shortage of affordable housing in many communities, and the government has shown signs of doing just that."
The White House announced a plan in October 2023 to create more affordable housing by converting commercial properties to residential use, with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issuing a plan to incentivize and fund adaptive reuse projects.
In addition to accessing these new incentives for such projects, adaptive reuse work offers additional benefits, including potentially faster timelines than new developments; environmental impact from recycling and reusing existing materials and implementing new sustainable features in these older buildings; and, the opportunity to preserve properties with historical or architectural significance.
Bria concluded the article with a list of five additional areas to consider when unlocking the benefits of adaptive reuse, including zoning; compliance; covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs); costs; and, additional environmental considerations.
The full article is available in the July/August issue of the Journal of Property Management, available online here. Former Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Anna Kaufman Looney also contributed to this article.
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