In December 2024, the New York City Council officially adopted the City of Yes Zoning for Housing Opportunity. The City of Yes initiative aims to minimize parking restrictions and provide new housing opportunities across all five boroughs. In April 2024, New York State enacted the 467-m tax incentive program, known as “Affordable Housing from Commercial Conversions,” to bolster the transformation of non-residential buildings into affordable housing. And with the recent growing trend of converting existing underutilized or abandoned office spaces into state-of-the-art residential buildings, the possibilities are endless. As structural engineers, we have a critical role in understanding the many challenges and complexities that come with these projects.
To understand why the ‘City of Yes’ was approved – and what this means for the future of office-to-residential conversions – it’s important to understand the housing market over the past few years. New York City has been experiencing its worst housing shortage in recent decades for a variety of factors. The COVID-19 pandemic worsened the crisis, with widespread job loss and shifts to remote experience, which rendered many office spaces obsolete. Meanwhile, the city’s population has continued to grow, further widening the gap between housing supply and demand. Developers have been seizing opportunities to not only repurpose existing buildings, but to upgrade them to meet modern standards.
Government incentives such as the 467-m program further strengthen the case for adaptive reuse, offering tax relief to developers who convert commercial spaces into affordable residential units —this program requires at least 25% of units are affordable, distributed throughout the building, matched to the market‑rate unit mix, and share the same lobby and common areas. Beyond addressing the housing crisis, adaptive reuse projects offer meaningful environmental benefits by reducing demolition waste and minimizing the carbon footprint associated with new construction. These projects also support the city’s broader sustainability goals.
As New Yorkers, we often have nostalgia for the city’s architectural history and skyline. The beauty of these conversions is that the buildings aren’t being destroyed but rather, are updated with the latest technology, amenities, and energy-efficient systems. In addition to creating much-needed housing, these projects contribute to the revitalization of neighborhoods by bringing in new residents, supporting local businesses, and increasing overall interest in urban living.
With the growing momentum behind office-to-residential conversion projects, the future looks increasingly promising. Initiatives such as The City of Yes and tax programs like 467-m will undoubtedly accelerate this growth. As the trend takes hold in other cities, New York City serves as a model to provide guidelines to tackle housing challenges and adaptive reuse of existing structures.
GMS is honored to have to have served as the structural engineer on several amazing projects. Just last year, we completed construction on Pearl House at 160 Water Street and SoMa at 25 Water Street. We have started construction at the Flatiron Building and we are currently working on 77 Water Street, 4 Manhattan West, 1011 First Avenue, 5 Times Square, 17 John Street, and several other confidential conversions.
Some structural challenges that we have tackled include creating or upgrading the lateral load resisting systems, recladding buildings to incorporate new fenestration, carving atria or lightwells into the center of the floors to create more “light and air” as well as relocating floor area to the top of existing buildings. Some buildings have extra elevator shafts that can be repurposed for utilities, but some require additional stairs so that egress conforms to the apartment layouts.
Since our firm was founded, GMS has converted old factories in Tribeca and West Chelsea into housing, even converting the Woolworth upper offices into residences. We look forward to contributing to New York City’s vision of innovation and development for many more years to come.