Can converting underutilized office buildings to residential space increase urban vitality?

We built a framework for converting underperforming office buildings to residential use in Washington, D.C.’s central business district. Within this 175-block area, we categorized each office property according to five archetypes: wedge, cube, light or L-shaped, blinder, and heavy or slight slab. After sorting each office building into a categorical bucket, we mapped out the degree to which each archetype is fit for residential conversion. Further, we evaluated each building in the context of its surrounding neighborhood. This included mapping a network of residential nodes where development could generate a new interconnected community to replace the current office-only landscape.