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Re: Letters to the Editor: Converting office buildings into apartments isn't as easy as you might think

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On 25 Jan 2022, Biden sucks <jthomq@gmail.com> posted some
news:sspvp2$ltma$57@news.freedyn.de: 

> Democrats say just hang some plywood and throw paint on it.  Fuck the
> regulations we passed.  

To the editor: While I think converting underused or vacant office 
buildings into housing is a pretty good idea, I think most proponents are 
clueless about how much it costs to do this. ("Turning office buildings 
into apartments is how California eases the housing crisis," editorial, 
June 25)

I worked in an office that had a floor space of about 10,000 square feet. 
There were a set of bathrooms on either end. Each cube had one 15-amp 
electrical outlet, maybe two.

All that plumbing and electrical work to make the space suitable for 
housing has to be run. Then there's the loading considerations of building 
soundproof walls, adding water heaters and more.

It's not exactly a slam-dunk solution to the housing problem. Residential 
conversion just can't be done in a lot of office buildings.

Gregg Ferry, Carlsbad

..

To the editor: Conversion of vacant and underutilized commercial 
properties to create affordable housing is a great idea. As you note, such 
projects can revitalize neighborhoods, reduce environmental impacts and 
preserve local architecture and character.

That’s why such conversions have long been favored by community activists 
who are routinely dismissed as "NIMBYs," for "not in my backyard."

Recent and pending legislation that facilitates conversion and adaptive 
reuse deserves support, provided the housing is actually affordable. May I 
modestly suggest that exemption waivers and incentives for affordable 
housing projects be contingent on thorough, rigorous monitoring and 
enforcement backed up by stiff penalties for violators?

Or is all that stuff just too NIMBY to consider?

Shelley Wagers, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: Recycling anything is a good idea. And that includes 
buildings. Yet the editor could have selected a better example than the 
Crosby in Los Angeles' Koreatown neighborhood for the picture that ran 
with this editorial.

When I checked the building's website, the Crosby had 21 units available 
throughout the 12 floors of the two buildings. A 715-square-foot studio 
with one bathroom rents for $2,370. That’s hardly affordable.

Mark Stephen Mrotek, Carson

Walter
8 hours ago

Exactly.  An office building's closest correlation to housing is a 
military barracks.  Communal bathroom and shower, no individual cooking, 
privacy limited to what cube partitions provide.  It takes major interior 
rework, in some cases simply impossible, to turn office space into 
anything resembling apartments.

https://news.yahoo.com/letters-editor-converting-office-buildings-
100033358.html

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Re: Letters to the Editor: Converting office buildings into apartments isn't as easy as you might think You get what you vote for <karen.bass.unqualified.black.cunt@splcenter.org> - 2023-06-30 23:53 +0200

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