Interest in conversions to apartments has surged since 2020 as other commercial uses, especially office, continue to underperform while the demand for housing has been sustained. Although conversions do not account for a significant portion of new multifamily supply — only about 35,000 units, or 4%, of the total constructed from 2020 to 2022, according to Statista — they represent strategically important projects for many urban neighborhoods.
Data from Yardi Matrix, which tracks all multifamily projects of 50 units or more anywhere in the U.S., are available for completed projects during the “late Covid” period since 2022. These projects generated over 24,000 apartment units (see Table 1). Converted hotels account for the plurality of converted units for these two years. Office conversions, which accounted for the most converted units of any prior use from 2013 to 2022, are second. Together, hotels and office buildings represented 70% of all converted units.
Source: Tracking Conversions to Multifamily | NAIOP | Commercial Real Estate Development Association
