Harnessing Zoning Data for City-Wide Analysis

The capacity to leverage large-scale data, particularly zoning information, is convincingly demonstrated by its ability to assess an entire inventory of city offices. Just yesterday, we conducted a thorough review of the criteria used to determine whether office spaces are optimally suited for redevelopment, conversion, or to be retained in their current state.

Defining Conversion Criteria

Our criteria were defined as follows:

Best for Development: Targeted at buildings where the permissible area for residential units is more than triple the existing office space.

Remain as Office: Applicable to buildings where the allowable area for units is less than 75% of the office space.

Potential 'Conversion' Opportunities: Any properties that do not fit these categories.

Office Building Breakdown

Based on our current criteria, the breakdown of the total office buildings, numbering 743, is as follows:

Best for Development: 424

Potential for Conversion: 205

Best to Remain as Office: 46

Categorization by Potential Unit Yield

Each property has further been categorized based on their potential unit yield into small, medium, or large.

Insights from Selected Properties

I took the liberty of randomly selecting three properties from each category to gain a better understanding of their characteristics. The examples I found were surprisingly representative of their respective categories.

Conversion Category: Featured a substantial 104,307 SF office building from the 1980s, with the potential to house 199 units, making it a large conversion project.

Development Category: Showcased a building with 26,124 SF, capable of accommodating 72 units, indicating a development potential that is five times the current state.

Office Category: Highlighted the importance of preserving certain office spaces, especially those of Class A and A+ quality, to maintain a physical workforce presence.

Conclusion and Future Directions

In conclusion, the ability to rapidly assess and categorize an extensive portfolio of 743 assets demonstrates the immense power of data at scale. Our goal is to extend this service across various asset categories, enhancing its utility and reach.