Phoenix ranks No. 11 in U.S. for most office-to-apartment conversions

Article originally posted on AZ Big Media on February 7, 2025

Office-to-apartment conversions are at a new all-time high, with the pipeline reaching 70,700 units as of 2025. More than two-thirds (68%) of all future apartments retrofitted from offices are located in 20 metros — and Phoenix is one of them, ranking as the nation’s 11th major retrofitter.

Let’s dive into the details:

• Phoenix’s office-to-apartment conversions pipeline encompasses 1,634 units. Phoenix is behind Atlanta with 600 units, and behind Chicago with 2,000 units. New York is at the forefront of office-to-apartment conversions with a pipeline of 8,310 units, or 5 times more units than those expected in Phoenix through this type of adaptive reuse.
• In Phoenix, office spaces turned residential saw a 19% increase year-over-year. Boston; Jacksonville, FL; Omaha, NE; and Charlotte, NC, saw their pipelines more than double year-over-year, while Los Angeles experienced an 80% increase. At the other side of the spectrum, office-to-apartment conversions in Detroit, Dallas and Cleveland decreased by up to 20% compared to last year.
• • In 16 out of the top 20 office-to-apartment retrofitters, this type of conversion represents more than half of all adaptive reuse projects. In Phoenix this share is among the highest, at 71% of all new units expected from such transformations.
  • A standout project is the redevelopment of the Canyon Corporate Center, which will be revamped into 400 new apartments.
  • Can the momentum continue? Only around 4% of Phoenix’s existing office space is convertible to residential. That’s significantly below the national average of 14%. However, that’s not to be dismissed, it amounts to almost 6 million square feet of office space.
  • By comparison, Miami and Atlanta have double the office space fit for adaptive reuse, Minneapolis – St. Paul and New Jersey triple, while Los Angeles boasts 83 million square feet, or 14 times more than in Phoenix.