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Bloomington council reviews study on converting vacant offices to other uses, staff urged to ‘hang out the shingle’
Summary
City planning staff presented a study on office vacancy and barriers to office-to-residential and other conversions; council generally supported allowing multifamily in more office districts, directing staff to prepare resources and outreach rather than immediate, large-scale code overhauls.
City planning staff on Monday presented a study of office vacancy and strategies to encourage conversions of underused office properties to residential and other uses, and the Bloomington City Council signaled broad, cautious support for staff recommendations and outreach to property owners.
The presentation, led by Thomas Randler Olson of city planning staff, summarized regional vacancy trends, practical and regulatory barriers to conversions and recommended a set of regulatory, logistical and financial tools the city could use to encourage reuse of office buildings. Olson told the council that a healthy office market typically has 5%–10% vacancy and that Bloomington’s vacancy has improved by about 2 percentage points from 2023 to 2024.
The nut graf: The study identified physical constraints (mechanical, plumbing and floor‑plate issues), parking and zoning rules and the city’s Opportunity Housing requirements as common obstacles. Staff recommended targeted zoning…
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