Downtown office‑equivalencies update: staff says 29,694 sq ft could convert to about 71 residential units after two projects

Ruby Riley, downtown manager, presented an updated subarea map and table (data current as of Aug. 26) showing remaining office‑equivalencies (OE) and the amount available for conversion or intra‑subarea transfer.

Riley said Meissner Plaza is seeking to use roughly 4,768 square feet of office equivalency within Subarea B (listed as 184–189 in the application table) and that the Center for the Arts application proposes to use over 207,000 square feet of office‑equivalency (reported as the development’s projected need). She explained how those proposed uses reduce the remaining OE per subarea and noted some subareas (D, E and F) show zero available for conversion.

Using the numbers provided to staff and after accounting for the two projects, Riley reported the CRA would have about 29,694 square feet of OE remaining, which she said could convert to roughly 71 residential units. She added Subarea C had about 27,326 square feet left for conversion (equivalent to about 3.31 office equivalency units and 5.75 residential units in the table staff reviewed), and Subarea G showed specific available square‑foot figures tied to retail and office OE categories.

Chair Nautilus asked if the CRA reserves OEs; Mr. Brown replied the city does not reserve office equivalencies — they are allocated on a first‑come, first‑served basis when an application is submitted and approved — and cautioned that projects proposing conversion to residential could be delayed if the OE pool is consumed.

No formal vote or transfer was acted on at the meeting. The board received the update and asked staff to continue tracking OE usage and to inform prospective applicants about availability constraints.

Next steps noted in the meeting: staff will continue processing applications in order received and return to the board with updates as proposed developments advance.