Panel: Office-to-residential conversions offer opportunities but face high code, cost and zoning hurdles

A panel of architects, developers and city staff told the City of Boulder Housing Advisory Board on Jan. 22 that converting vacant office buildings to housing is possible in some locations but typically requires sizeable work on building systems, fire and egress upgrades, zoning amendments and creative financing.

The panel was moderated by Holly Hendrickson, senior project manager with the city’s Housing and Human Services division, and included Pete Weber of Coburn Architecture, Jeff McMillan (planner/project manager/developer), and Phil Scholl, founder of Danube Construction. The panel presented three recent case studies — the Geological Society of America (GSA) building conversion led for Boulder Housing Partners, Ready to Work conversions in Aurora and Englewood, and an in-progress conversion at 1525 Spruce Street — to illustrate technical and regulatory trade-offs.

Hendrickson said the city’s white paper and the panel’s experience both show office-to-residential work is “market tinkering” rather than a silver-bullet solution: “I consider this concept... a market tinkering solution. Like this isn’t gonna shape our housing market,” she said, cautioning the board that conversions are a niche tool that can help in the right location.

Panelists emphasized three recurring barriers: (1) building systems and deferred…