In Canada, vacant office space is being turned into living space
The empty offices after the pandemic are being converted into modern loft apartments with affordable rents.
Recently, some Canadian cities have faced the problem of a large amount of empty office space. With the cost of renting in Canada on the rise, but with a noticeable housing shortage, the idea of converting these empty offices into living space has been a real trend lately.
There is even budget funding for this idea. Calgary and Halifax are already boiling over. Toronto, Yellowknife, and London, Ontario are next in line.
In Calgary, a 10-storey office building that has been empty for nearly 10 years has undergone renovation. Locals were quite surprised to discover in January that rows of balconies had been added to the vacant high-rise. According to Maxim Olshevsky, director of Peoplefirst Developments, the company responsible for the renovation, they wanted "to give the tenants an extra space they could enjoy."
On the second floor of the building will be a co-working space for independent beauty industry workers. "This is the largest cosmetology co-working space in Calgary," Olshevsky assures.
Soon the building will get new life, and 112 apartments will be available. Each will have two or three bedrooms to accommodate large families. Forty percent of the apartments will be rented at a relatively affordable price, starting at $1,600.
In Halifax, the rent for 38 of the 100 apartments in the renovated building will be sponsored in part by the province itself. For the next 20 years, rents will be 20 per cent below market rates. These will be one-, two— or three-bedroom loft apartments.
