We structure financing and broker deals that convert vacant offices, retail, schools, churches, municipal buildings, and land into high-performing multifamily housing. Complimentary analysis for every project.
Conversion Units in Pipeline (2025)
HUD Lending Capacity for Conversions
Of Office Buildings Suitable to Convert
What We Convert
From underperforming Class B offices to vacant churches and surplus municipal properties, we identify conversion opportunities and structure the financing to make them happen.
Class B and C office buildings — especially those with smaller floor plates under 80 feet deep, operable windows, and sufficient ceiling heights — are prime candidates. Post-pandemic vacancy rates above 20% have created historic acquisition opportunities.
Dead malls, vacant strip centers, and underperforming big-box stores offer large footprints in established locations with existing infrastructure and parking. Mixed-use conversions can retain ground-floor retail while adding residential above.
With 2,000+ public schools closing every three years due to declining enrollment, these character-rich buildings offer strong bones, community significance, and often historic tax credit eligibility. Gymnasium and auditorium spaces convert into stunning amenities.
With church membership dropping from 70% to below 47% nationally, thousands of properties are available. High ceilings, stained glass, and architectural character translate into unique luxury apartments that command premium rents and attract buyers.
Surplus government properties — courthouses, post offices, fire stations, and administrative buildings — often sit in prime downtown locations. Government dispositions can offer favorable pricing, and many qualify for historic preservation incentives.
Infill lots, brownfield sites, and underutilized parcels offer ground-up multifamily opportunities. We structure pre-development financing covering rezoning, entitlements, and site work before transitioning to construction capital through HUD, agency, or private sources.
How It Works
From initial feasibility through lease-up, we guide every phase. Our team has structured dozens of complex adaptive reuse capital stacks.
We evaluate whether a property passes the highest-and-best-use test for residential conversion. This includes physical, financial, and regulatory due diligence.
We identify every available funding source — federal, state, local, and private — to assemble a capital stack that makes the project financially viable.
Navigate the regulatory process with an experienced team while finalizing architectural and engineering plans for the conversion.
Coordinate construction draw schedules, monitor progress, and transition to permanent financing upon stabilization.
Capital Solutions
Conversion projects demand creative capital stacks. We source and structure financing from across the full spectrum of federal, state, and private programs.
HUD 221(d)(4) for new construction and substantial rehabilitation offers fully amortizing, fixed-rate, non-recourse loans with terms exceeding 40 years. HUD 223(f) for refinance of stabilized converted properties. $35 billion in lending capacity has been mobilized by HUD specifically to support conversion projects.
Agency lending for stabilized multifamily conversions through DUS and Optigo lender networks. Competitive rates, high leverage, and favorable prepayment terms. Green Rewards programs offer rate reductions for energy-efficient conversions, and Small Balance Loans serve smaller projects.
Federal HTCs provide a 20% income tax credit for qualified rehabilitation of historic buildings. Properties don't need existing landmark status — there's an application process to establish eligibility. Many conversions of pre-1970s offices, schools, and churches qualify.
Both 9% and 4% LIHTC allocations support affordable conversion projects. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act has increased LIHTC funding and reduced tax-exempt bond thresholds. Combined with HTC and TIF, LIHTC makes affordable conversions financially compelling.
Short-term bridge loans fund the transitional phase — from acquisition through construction. Private bridge lenders are increasingly active in the conversion space, offering flexible terms for value-add repositioning. Mezzanine capital fills gaps between senior debt and sponsor equity.
Cities from Chicago to Denver to Boston are allocating TIF funds specifically for conversion projects. Chicago's LaSalle Street Reimagined initiative committed over $250 million in TIF financing across five downtown conversions, with 30–35% of units designated as affordable.
Conversion projects in designated Opportunity Zones offer investors capital gains tax deferral and, for investments held 10+ years, permanent exclusion of gains from the investment. The ROAD to Housing Act directs HUD to prioritize Opportunity Zone projects for grants and financing.
Conduit and private placement debt for larger conversion projects. Life insurance companies, debt funds, and specialty lenders provide permanent and construction capital for projects that may not fit standard agency parameters. We access the full market.
Proven Results
These projects demonstrate the range and viability of adaptive reuse across property types, markets, and financing structures.
Financial District, New York City
A 60%-occupied office tower by Emery Roth & Sons acquired for $172.5M and being converted to 571 luxury apartments by Metro Loft and Silverstein Properties. Preserved recently upgraded lobby and elevator infrastructure to reduce costs.
Salt Lake City, Utah
Hines converted this mid-tier office building with a small floor plate — a weakness for office use that became a strength for residential — into 217 luxury apartments rebranded as Seraph, leveraging the building's downtown location near City Creek Center.
Koreatown, Los Angeles
Jamison Properties converted a 1957 Class B Texaco headquarters into 216 upscale multifamily units under LA's Adaptive Reuse Ordinance. The mid-century steel structure was preserved while interiors were completely reimagined. Won a Structural Engineering Excellence Award.
Upper East Side, New York City
TF Cornerstone transformed the FBI's former New York City headquarters into The Fairfax, a 313-unit luxury apartment building. The conversion repositioned a government building in a premium residential neighborhood into high-demand rental housing.
Fort Greene, Brooklyn
A 19th-century Gothic Revival church converted into 12 boutique residences preserving stained glass windows, arched doorways, and original stonework. Units range from $1.195M to $4M. The fourth successful historic Brooklyn conversion by KSR and Visabe.
Downtown Pittsburgh, PA
A department store designed by famed architect Daniel Burnham in 1904 was converted into a 253-unit apartment complex. The project leveraged Historic Tax Credits given the building's architectural significance and preserved its landmark facade while creating modern living spaces.
Downtown Spokane, WA
The former Macy's department store in downtown Spokane was converted to residential apartments as part of the city's aggressive Commercial Conversion Incentive program, which combines construction sales tax exemptions with multifamily property tax exemptions.
Bushwick, Brooklyn
St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church and School, designed in 1892 by architect Theobald Engelhardt, was converted into a four-building residential complex known as The Saint Marks. An infill building connected the structures while preserving the original facade, archways, and brick details.
The Loop, Chicago
First project underway in Chicago's LaSalle Street Reimagined initiative, converting a Loop office tower into 117 apartments — 41 designated affordable at 60% AMI. Part of $250M+ in TIF financing committed across five downtown conversion projects.
Government Support
More jurisdictions are creating conversion incentive programs than ever before. We track every available program and build them into your capital stack.
The 467-m tax exemption offers up to 90% tax abatement for 35 years for conversions south of 96th Street in Manhattan with 25% affordable units at 80% AMI. The City of Yes initiative and Office Conversion Accelerator Program streamline approvals. 8,310 units currently in pipeline.
LaSalle Street Reimagined: $250M+ in Tax Increment Financing committed across five downtown conversions requiring 30–35% affordable units. The city actively supports adaptive reuse of obsolete commercial buildings throughout the Loop and surrounding neighborhoods.
Office-to-Residential Program provides up to 75% tax abatement tied to affordability and green energy requirements. Currently 15 applications in pipeline creating 762 units across 600,000 SF, with 141 designated affordable. Streamlined permitting included.
Housing in Downtown Initiative provides 20-year tax abatements for conversions with at least 10% affordable units at 60% AMI. Expected to distribute up to $41M through 2028. Federal government lease exits are creating new conversion opportunities.
The Adaptive Reuse Ordinance (1999) allows by-right conversions in Downtown, Hollywood, and Koreatown, with decades of proven success. Dozens of former office and industrial buildings successfully converted to lofts and apartments under streamlined regulations.
HUD's $35B lending capacity for conversions. Historic Tax Credits (20% federal). CDBG grants. The ROAD to Housing Act establishes a $100M pilot for commercial-to-housing conversions and raises the RAD conversion cap. One Big Beautiful Bill Act expanded LIHTC funding.
Why Work With Us
Conversion projects fail when the financing doesn't account for the unique complexity of adaptive reuse — the phased construction, the layered incentives, the regulatory timeline. We specialize in structuring capital stacks that bring together federal programs, tax credits, municipal subsidies, and private capital into a single, executable plan.
Our team understands the interplay between HUD, agency lending, LIHTC syndication, historic tax credits, TIF, and private bridge capital. We know how to sequence draws, satisfy multiple compliance requirements, and ensure every dollar of available subsidy is captured.
SF Office Suitable for Conversion
Units in Pipeline (2025)
Units Completed in 2024
Pipeline Growth Since 2021
Common Questions
Get Started
Whether you own a vacant office building, a closing church, an unused school, or undeveloped land, our team will evaluate its multifamily conversion potential at no cost. We'll identify applicable financing programs, estimate costs, and outline the path forward.
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