📰 What Happened: NYC office demand is still down, opening the door to large-scale adaptive reuse. Friendlier zoning and better incentives are accelerating desk-to-dwelling transitions, with 2024 setting records. The Midtown South Mixed-Use Plan (MSMX), which rezones 42 city blocks, could add 9,500 new housing units by itself.

🔍 A Closer Look: Conversions are reshaping iconic Big Apple addresses. On Third Avenue, several former offices are being reimagined as apartments, including 135 E. 57th Street—once a 1980s office symbol. One Times Square will soon host 1,250 new apartments, and the former Pfizer HQ is set to become the largest residential conversion in the country at 1,602 units.

🧠 Why It Matters: Manhattan’s spate of office-to-resi conversions will be watched closely by other cities looking to address urban density and housing problems. For developers, the wave of zoning reform made what was once complex economically viable, positioning Manhattan as a national leader in adaptive reuse innovation.