Since the pandemic, there has been lots of talk about the end of the office and there have been various calls to convert empty office buildings to apartments to ease the housing shortage which is hitting a host of locations, not just in Ireland.
So it is notable to see the former headquarters of Goldman Sachs, in the heart of New York’s financial district, has been changed to residential units.
According to Bloomberg News, the building, which acted as Goldman’s base from the 1960s to the 1980s, is now offering apartments that can be rented from about $4,000 (€3,600) per month.
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The conversion is emblematic of the wider changes in New York life, with the area around Wall Street not quite as dominated by the financial sector as it once was. But it also shows that office conversions — which have a reputation for being notoriously difficult to pull off — can be done successfully.
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This has potential ramifications for the Republic. Not all older office blocks can indeed be switched over to residential, but it shows that issues like the big floor plates of workplaces which are usually unsuited to switch easily to homes, can be dealt with.
There is, of course, a caveat or two. The sheer scale of the building — 440,000sq ft — allows it to convert to 541 apartments. That creates economies of scale that make a redevelopment of this size possible. Even so, the price of New York apartment rentals makes it economically viable whereas in many locations it wouldn’t be possible.
Certain moves wouldn’t always be possible under Irish building codes. Many of the apartments have rooms marketed as home offices that have no natural light. That deals with the large floorplate issue but wouldn’t necessarily be possible here.
Still, a successful conversion of an old office block like this shows what is possible. It doesn’t mean every unwanted work building can be switched to masses of apartments, but it proves what can be done.
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