This article originally appeared on azcentral.
A shift in the office market after the COVID-19 pandemic may have created opportunities for the adaptive reuse of former office buildings but converting them into apartments or other kinds of spaces is easier on paper than in practice.
According to research from Colliers International, Phoenix’s office vacancy rate in the third quarter of 2023 was 14.7%, an increase from the previous quarter, and up from the same time last year. Office vacancies were the highest they’ve been since the fourth quarter of 2013. While not all of the vacant office is suitable for reuse, the vacancy level does have developers thinking of a next life for some buildings.