Underused Corporate Campuses Could Serve As Affordable Housing
Affordable housing may be the key to success for developers looking to revive ailing corporate office parks.
With more people being pushed out of city centers because of the increasingly high cost of housing, developers are looking to underutilized suburban office campuses as a cost-efficient option for redevelopment projects, the Wall Street Journal reports.
In the coming months Greenwich, Connecticut-based developer National Resources is expected to close a deal to buy a 300-acre site in New York State, which would eventually offer apartments for as low as $1,200/month.
National Resources recognized that while they could build out a development that includes office and retail, the ability to offer affordable housing is what would set them apart and provide them with the leverage needed to lure millennials away from the core.
It is a trend that could grow in popularity. According to a 2016 study conducted by Newmark Knight Frank, between 14% and 22% of the suburban office inventory in Colorado, New Jersey, California, Chicago and Washington, D.C., was considered somewhat obsolete at the time, making them prime candidates for inexpensive redevelopment projects, the WSJ reports.
