Offices to apartments: Conversion study
Converting office properties in the right location is profitable from an investor's point of view and can help alleviate the housing shortage. This is the conclusion of a study by Implenia and JLL, which has now been presented in Zurich.
Conversion as an option for investors is increasingly coming back into focus in view of the different points at which the residential and office segments currently find themselves in the real estate cycle, the study states. The study also investigated which locations offer market potential for office space conversions in Switzerland. In particular, low-demand office properties in need of refurbishment in urban centers with a shortage of residential space are proving attractive. In Zurich, for example, rents for new apartments in outer and "in-between" neighborhoods such as Altstetten, Wipkingen or Schwamendingen exceed those for offices by more than CHF 90 per square meter per year. The same applies, for example, to Geneva's urban area in the east.
According to the study authors, the potential "in the second row" and in outer neighborhoods is often underestimated. In these locations, the high yield potential would enable the transformation of old offices into attractive apartments. (ah)
