Sky Castle conversion spotlights adaptive‑reuse approach to add affordable homes faster

Sky Castle, a two‑phase adaptive‑reuse of the former L.A. World Trade Center, was presented to the CalHFA board as an example of converting existing office buildings into affordable housing faster and with cost efficiencies.

Catherine McFadden and developer Garrett Lee described technical and design choices—preserving the building’s exterior and a 1974 concrete artwork, subdividing airspace to allow two independent financing stacks, and reusing existing elevators and life‑safety systems—to lower marginal costs and accelerate delivery. The team emphasized that no additional floors or mass are being added and that the project will comply with seismic retrofit requirements. Board members pressed the team on per‑unit cost drivers, elevator modernization, parking access and unit mix. "We're not adding any floors," Garrett Lee said; "we're repurposing the existing structure," he added, explaining why adaptive reuse can be more cost‑effective than expected for comparable high‑rise projects.

Speakers noted tradeoffs: adaptive reuse preserves existing structure and often reduces impact fees, but still requires substantial interior demolition and systems work (new mechanical, plumbing for individual units). The project’s 15% hard‑cost contingency was presented as an increase above prior conversion projects to address that complexity. CalHFA staff and board members said they expect to use lessons from Sky Castle for future reuse projects and offered to organize site visits during construction.