Office-to-residential conversions continue to grow across the nation, and Chicago is helping lead the way.
A new report from RentCafe shows there are more than 70,000 apartments that will be converted from office spaces across the U.S. this year. That’s an increase from 55,000 last year, 45,000 in 2023 and 23,000 in 2022.
The numbers coincide with a sharp drop in demand for downtown office space during and after the height of the COVID pandemic. At the same time, housing inventory in most markets across the nation remains low.
“Office-to-apartment conversions are surging in popularity, with 2025 set to reach a record-breaking milestone of almost 71,000 units in the pipeline,” the report said. “More than just creating housing, this trend reflects a shift toward sustainable, community-focused urban spaces that cater to the evolving lifestyles and priorities of modern American cities.”
Chicago is No. 1 in the Midwest and No. 4 among U.S. metro areas with 3,606 units in its office-to-apartments pipeline, a 28% increase compared to 2024.
In Chicagoland, “office buildings totaling more than 67.5 million square feet are considered suitable for such reinventions (or 18% of the metro’s total office inventory, exceeding the national average). One major project is 30 N. LaSalle St., where 432,000 square feet of space will be revamped into 432 new apartments, including 130 affordable units,” the RentCafe report said.
The metro areas with the biggest year-over-year percentage increases in office-to-apartment conversions are Boston (160%); Jacksonville, Florida (150%); Omaha, Nebraska (141%); and Charlotte, North Carolina (107%).
The cities with the most office-to-apartment conversions planned in 2025 are:
- New York City (8,310)
- Washington, D.C. (6,533)
- Los Angeles (4,388)
- Chicago (3,606)
- Dallas (2,725)
- Atlanta (2,239)
- Minneapolis (1,873)
- Charlotte, North Carolina (1,787)
- Cincinnati (1,753)
- Kansas City (1,676)