Entertainment
Why Converting Empty Offices Into Housing Is Tough
Former Chief Urban Designer of The City of New York Alexandros Washburn explains why turning underused office space into new housing is so difficult—but offers so solutions. Still haven’t subscribed to WIRED on YouTube? ►► Listen to the Get WIRED podcast ►► Want more WIRED? Get the magazine ►► Follow WIRED: Instagram ►► Twitter ►►…
Entertainment
Gun Laws and Good Drinks of the Wild West
Historian Mark Lee Gardner joins WIRED to answer the internet’s burning questions about the Wild West era, including whether or not they actually hard tougher gun control laws in those days than they do now. Still haven’t subscribed to WIRED on YouTube? ►► Listen to the Get WIRED podcast ►► Want more WIRED? Get the…
Entertainment
We Tracked Every Visitor to Epstein Island | WIRED
Even in death, the secrets of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and his infamous private island remain tightly guarded. But in 2024 WIRED conducted an investigation uncovering the data of mobile devices belonging to almost 200 of his visitors. How strong was the data? So precise that we followed visitor’s movements to and from Epstein Island…
Entertainment
Jimmy O. Yang Answers The Web’s Most Searched Questions | WIRED
Actor and comedian Jimmy O. Yang visits WIRED to answer his most searched for questions on Google. When did Jimmy O. Yang begin his career in comedy? Who did Jimmy O. Yang play on HBO’s ‘Silicon Valley?’ How did Jimmy O. Yang first become famous. When did he start uploading his standup to TikTok? Jimmy…
I Learned To Fly an eVTOL in 3 Days With Pivotal
30th Anniversary PS5 Pro Limited Edition Bundle Unboxing
Tour the new 2025 Hyundai Ioniq 9 with Emme Hall | TechCrunch
-
Science & Technology4 years agoNitya Subramanian: Products and Protocol
-
CNET4 years agoWays you can help Black Lives Matter movement (links, orgs, and more) 👈🏽
-
Wired6 years agoHow This Guy Became a World Champion Boomerang Thrower | WIRED
-
People & Blogs3 years agoSleep Expert Answers Questions From Twitter 💤 | Tech Support | WIRED
-
Wired6 years agoNeuroscientist Explains ASMR’s Effects on the Brain & The Body | WIRED
-
Wired6 years agoWhy It’s Almost Impossible to Solve a Rubik’s Cube in Under 3 Seconds | WIRED
-
Wired6 years agoFormer FBI Agent Explains How to Read Body Language | Tradecraft | WIRED
-
CNET5 years agoSurface Pro 7 review: Hello, old friend 🧙
@vultureculture7707
September 24, 2024 at 12:22 pm
Don’t get me wrong, most safety regulations were written in blood. However, regulations and laws need to be periodically updated to account for new needs and new technologies.
@MasterGhostf
September 24, 2024 at 12:49 pm
Agreed. Very good reasons to have to be able to open windows. In case of a fire, there is a possible fire exit.
@windmacher
September 24, 2024 at 7:00 pm
murica
@FalcaoXTZ
September 24, 2024 at 12:32 pm
Keeps the housing market high, that’s why all the red tape exists
@khadigekazemi8774
September 24, 2024 at 12:33 pm
Loved every min of this video! You nailed it!
@ChrisWar666
September 24, 2024 at 1:10 pm
I mean…. If it were only badly designed, badly “zoned” things, the rest of the world wouldn’t have the same problem…. 🤑
@RacingSnails64
September 24, 2024 at 1:13 pm
“We stand in our own way.”
This is true of nearly everything nowadays.
@wegotthis247
September 24, 2024 at 2:00 pm
It’s doable and being done in DC but unfortunately the cost is high and you guessed it – the neediest ones are not who are moving into them. Developers and investors of those prime office building projects are looking to convert to condos or high-end luxury apartments.
@ryandodd8941
September 24, 2024 at 2:09 pm
People who move into high end apartments free up apartments for needy people down the chain
@M13x13M
September 24, 2024 at 2:33 pm
1970’s and beyond American offices buildings have floor plates too wide to convert to housing. Yes, it could be done by cutting out the center but everything else would still not meet today’s codes so it’s cheaper to tear down and build new housing . Unfortunately politicians and reporters know nothing about architecture or the excessive regulations they have created so these myths persist.
@M13x13M
September 24, 2024 at 2:36 pm
Unfortunately politicians and news reporters no nothing about architecture or the excessive regulations they have created.
@jluo7193
September 24, 2024 at 2:57 pm
Whoa did not know beating act 3 sometimes won’t show the tu-thump
@PatrickCoombe
September 24, 2024 at 4:34 pm
Zoning ruins everything
@redmoondesignbeth9119
September 24, 2024 at 6:20 pm
A while ago a Porta-.Potty Co in California offered FREE Services. There were So many rules and the cost was going to be outrageous because they had to have “studies”.
It was easier to let homeless sh*t on the street.
@maxgorden499
September 24, 2024 at 6:25 pm
It’s actually pretty hard to section off and retrofit plumbing in a preexisting office space without great expense. Just think about it for a moment
@thatguyuknow1837
September 24, 2024 at 6:38 pm
I thought about this for the malls that are now abandoned, why not turn them into apartments? Obviously something was need changed but wouldnt it be cheaper to make renovations than to teardown a building are build another?
@jemrossi
September 24, 2024 at 6:40 pm
the vertical farming part got me, thats exactly what i thought as a way to get around this, like agrivoltaics exemptions.
@kerrypickens8594
September 24, 2024 at 7:21 pm
I lived in an apartment that was a converted office space. It still had an EXIT sign over the door.
@S0cialCrisis
September 24, 2024 at 7:26 pm
Yeah it’s pretty lucky office windows don’t open with how North Americans are abused and overworked by employers. Employee turnover would skyrocket, and people wouldn’t be quitting
@evanh.8845
September 26, 2024 at 1:34 pm
We should have every apartment building have a skatepark in the middle of it because that would be hella rad
@ilyac3185
September 26, 2024 at 1:41 pm
Don’t the Floor plates for commercial need to be changed to fit residential regulations ?
@sjenner76
September 26, 2024 at 2:02 pm
Laws, rules and regulations are important for any number of reasons. But it is our inability to dynamically reexamine and question them, and the vested interests that they create, that act to hem us in. Ultimately, it results in a society that cannot innovate in response to circumstance and change. And it will hollow us out given time. We can see it with already happening with Social Security, Medicaid and healthcare more broadly, our monstrosity of a tax code, immigration and more, where any number of effective solutions are ignored while people with a vested interest in the current failure align to vent their spleens and ensure nothing changes. The victim in that scheme is the citizen, the body-politic and the nation, which are denied well-reasoned compromise and policy.
@williammyers9209
September 26, 2024 at 2:20 pm
Why cant they open windows? So they cant jump
@mtoastie3156
September 26, 2024 at 2:21 pm
We have more abandoned buildings in the United States than homeless people. Tragic.
@jerryglasses2229
September 26, 2024 at 3:06 pm
So not that i disagree per se but this guy is definitely oversimplifying it. Forget about regularory requirements. Retrofitting features that the market requires into a space that wasn’t designed to accommodate those features gets very expensive.
@AridDessert
September 26, 2024 at 3:23 pm
Because money.
@dajosee
September 26, 2024 at 3:43 pm
Everyone loves Vertical Farming, especially folk in low income housing.
@ParalegallyLady
September 26, 2024 at 4:02 pm
The windows in offices don’t open so people don’t jump out of them 🤷🏽♀️
@James_Hough
September 26, 2024 at 4:28 pm
When you say “we stand in our own way” what you mean is “government stands in our way”.
@ZippingLake
September 26, 2024 at 4:32 pm
I get that regulations are a burden on everyone but hear me out, there are reasons why gov gets involved and it is absolutely simple: businesses cut corners.
@Falcrist
September 26, 2024 at 4:36 pm
“We stand in our own way”
I decline to be grouped with the wraiths who buy up all the property so they can milk the poor for money.
@Elyandarin
September 26, 2024 at 5:29 pm
Vertical farming is generally unprofitable, but you could put something else useful on each floor, like grocery store, small library, post office, doctor’s office, bar etc.
@scoobydoobies
September 26, 2024 at 6:58 pm
Not much has impressed me in life more than German windows
@robhardingpoetry
September 26, 2024 at 7:09 pm
It’s done in the UK and they are horrific and nobody should live in them. Evan Edinger did a video all about it
@grovermartin6874
September 26, 2024 at 7:34 pm
When I was in the World Trade Center at the beginning, the fact that the windows couldn’t be opened creeped me out. I couldn’t wait to get out of there.
@RyanLynch1
September 26, 2024 at 8:09 pm
zoning laws are pretty stupid now
@andrewroundy5996
September 26, 2024 at 8:13 pm
What about the fact that at this point in time, there is the most unoccupied live space in history. Multiple millions of homes/apartments. We don’t need more, we need to fix the current system
@samreagan6292
September 26, 2024 at 8:25 pm
Interior with shops and the exterior 30 feet can be apartments. That way you can have shops inside the building in case it’s raining and all you need is some milk and sugar.
@karlahabbershaw1971
September 26, 2024 at 8:39 pm
Dude the idea for vertical farming at the end Beautiful how do we get this moving?
@Quentyn73
September 26, 2024 at 8:53 pm
It’s doable? No it’s not
@kingfisher9553
September 26, 2024 at 8:53 pm
Look at the shoulders on this guy!
@Unh0lyK1ng
September 26, 2024 at 9:00 pm
The plumbing would have to completely redone unless they used communal bathrooms. A lot of the electrical and structure would have to be reworked for safety and emergency egress reasons too.
@olliec852
September 26, 2024 at 9:06 pm
i think the sealed office windows
probably goes back many years. perhaps almost a hundred. i’d place it right around 1929
@alexreid1173
September 26, 2024 at 9:19 pm
All of the new apartments in my area are “luxury apartments” with pools, granite countertops, the works. It’s incredibly difficult to find basic apartments these days unless it’s someplace so bad that it’s filled with rats and mold. Market failures like this are the exact right time that governments should be stepping in so people can get the things they need…
@JustSomeGuy009
September 27, 2024 at 7:10 pm
Rules? You mean regulations? You mean zoning? 🤦♂️
@princessjello
September 27, 2024 at 7:20 pm
Hasan should b proud bc me and my friends have been memeing eric adams for 3 years now 😢
He keeps saying unhinged stuff, its so bad.
@WREFMAN
September 27, 2024 at 7:22 pm
Vertical farming? Lol
@natescode
September 27, 2024 at 7:31 pm
Zoning. Government hates efficiency
@i-hate-handle-names
September 27, 2024 at 7:33 pm
Reminder that the local hardware store, hairdressers, etc used to just a large room on the front of some’s house.
@relempago23
September 27, 2024 at 7:38 pm
Cost. It’s cost. Above all cost. Yes clearing red tape for change of use and solving light and air is big, but a lot of office buildings were built as lean as possible to accommodate a specific function. The access, emergency egress, depth, sprinkling, MEP, hvac all would have to be split or re worked. It’s a big lift. Oddly, older buildings are often better suited for this.
@JayLeePoe
September 27, 2024 at 8:09 pm
this is a very eloquent way for creating Silos for human beings to live in warehouses
@dbmeo3417
September 27, 2024 at 8:10 pm
Forget the rules. It would be too expensive to convert them into residential buldings anyway.
@Ancano
September 27, 2024 at 8:11 pm
sewer and water use is way different between offices and apartments
@FluxNomad678
September 27, 2024 at 8:17 pm
Would it be a major pain to expand the building’s plumbing system adding showers toilets and kitchen to the units
@nomadicam
September 27, 2024 at 8:19 pm
Also, malls!
@neadedios3106
September 27, 2024 at 8:23 pm
Listened to a lecture by an urban planner the other day, and one of the things he said was something along the lines of “Sustainable urban design is so difficult to achieve because we’ve basically made it illegal.”
@corruptedcat2850
September 27, 2024 at 8:24 pm
LETS GO GOVERNMENT RUINING EVERYTHING RAAAAAAHHHH
@asterling4
September 27, 2024 at 8:34 pm
okay but more importantly. there are more houses in america than there are unhoused people. we don’t actually need more housing. there’s lots of wonderfully livable places sitting empty because massive housing corporations have enough control of the market to maintain scarcity and drive rent up artificially. this is why we have something called “housing inflation”, which basically means that the median cost of housing has _skyrocketed_ in comparison to the median income (aka it’s _way_ harder to pay rent now than it was 50 years ago, even if the job and the house are the exact same)
@bridgetstoli2347
September 27, 2024 at 8:34 pm
Cooking? Bathrooms? Fire safety?Openable windows invite gravity related tragedies. You are not sure because you ignored the facts.
@SacredCowStockyards
September 27, 2024 at 8:36 pm
I hate regulations
@andreasu.3546
September 27, 2024 at 8:36 pm
As an office worker in Germany, I’d happily trade in some of the windows in our office for proper airconditioning.
@MantraHerbInchSin
September 27, 2024 at 8:42 pm
Wide shoulders
@santiagobalado5643
September 27, 2024 at 8:59 pm
False! Ask an architect please. The plumbing is a huge issue, so that in many cases it would be even easier to demolish and restart
@aidanabregov1412
September 27, 2024 at 9:07 pm
I feel like some businesses keep the windows shut so they don’t have to buy nets.
@kernaburna
September 27, 2024 at 9:12 pm
In the 60s and 70 everything in Germany was a window
@brucewilkins1548
September 27, 2024 at 9:13 pm
What a narrow view. The reason you don’t want to turn offices into apartments is that companies create tax payers. Houses do not. So that is the problem. If you convert them, you are giving up attracting businesses to your tax base.
@Irontygre
September 27, 2024 at 9:22 pm
Spoken truly by someone who thinks they understand the problem but really doesn’t.
I like my apartments with plumbing. But your tastes may vary, no judgement.
@DPSDeucalion
September 27, 2024 at 9:25 pm
Zoning
@dark14life
September 27, 2024 at 9:26 pm
Humans are smart.
Americans are stupid.
@donaldasayers
September 28, 2024 at 6:01 pm
Shell Centre in London is now mostly flats.
@9106148720
September 28, 2024 at 6:04 pm
ameritards never cease to amaze
@yumann
September 28, 2024 at 6:12 pm
Propagandagram
@larrysorenson4789
September 28, 2024 at 6:13 pm
Zoning and the building code.
Duhhh.
@hotrdncwby
September 28, 2024 at 6:14 pm
Just stop allowing corporate ownership of single family homes. Thats a huge start.
@Carnutzjoe
September 28, 2024 at 6:18 pm
The biggest reason isn’t building rules it’s real estate investors keeping the supply of apartments low to keep rents high. Corporate greed.
@stephendoherty8291
September 28, 2024 at 6:18 pm
Also missing is older office heat retention and heat removal. All those glass facades, grest for light till the summer heat comes. Winter insulation was an afterthought with vaeement furnaces and nobody occupying overnight. Plus honestly, construction quality was poor post 60’s especially the 80’s. Boiling in the summer without aircon at full blast and freezing in winter without company expense furnace. Heating controls built based on cheapest cost. Large useless foyer?
@llxVxll
September 28, 2024 at 6:19 pm
“office buildings cant open windows for some reason” yeah thats because they figured that the corpo’s were going to drain the souls of their workers and didn’t want to make it easy for them to jump out.
@hektik2074
September 28, 2024 at 6:23 pm
Sorry, this land is not zoned for residential.
@maynunal
September 28, 2024 at 6:30 pm
I wish some skyscrapers can be used as hydroponic farms!!!!
@Rocketboy1313
September 28, 2024 at 6:44 pm
I am sure “not have to open the wondow” was to cut into the Office suicide issues.
@walker1054
September 28, 2024 at 6:44 pm
Theres plenty of space for housing to be built. Converting an old office building not meant for housing will probably be lower quality. Office space demand will likely always grow slightly while the population does so just let the empty offices fill up again otherwise we’ll need to build new offices because we converted the existing ones lol. But yeah there’s so much space to build housing
@thelocalcryptid
September 28, 2024 at 6:53 pm
Its so frustrating living in am age where WE KNOW HOW TO IMPROVE SOCIETY, we have the ideas, the plans, the motivation.
But its all about Money. This capitalistic prison we reside in is going to be our tomb unless we make drastic changes, sadly i dont think we will, i believe in my lifetime ill see the worlds collapse into ruin
@lattesrgood
September 28, 2024 at 7:03 pm
This is so fascinating, I love this topic!
@expectopaturtle9137
September 28, 2024 at 7:17 pm
We don’t stand in our own way.
The rich are standing in our way.
@MrKago1
September 28, 2024 at 7:21 pm
Rule and regulations sure. That protect the real estate speculators that are using over priced apartments as collateral for loans. If you have to ask why in business or government, the answer is always money.
@chillpillology
September 28, 2024 at 7:42 pm
because there is one bathroom for a whole floor in an office building? thats called a hostile
@lightyagami77777
September 28, 2024 at 7:50 pm
I’m assuming it’s a state by state basis thing. My apartment building doesn’t have a single openable window in any of its ~70 units afaik.
@ekklesiast
September 28, 2024 at 8:25 pm
Government, it’s always government making things worse for everyone
@ilahjarvis
September 28, 2024 at 9:10 pm
What I see are tons of mostly empty, relatively new apartment buildings. They are extremely expensive and people I’ve met who live in them say they are poorly managed, the appliances break and generally move out within a year. There is a huge push to keep building more, to the point that they are tearing down historical landmarks in my city. The mess is so much bigger than a lack of housing. It’s a lack of affordable, desirable, properly build and managed housing.
@inseparabletheband
September 28, 2024 at 9:11 pm
i was on board until the “vertical Farming” commie gobbledygook.
@Harrington2323
September 28, 2024 at 9:13 pm
Wouldn’t be surprised when the “No-open-windows” rule is so that office drones can’t jump out of the window.
@Nelsonis
September 28, 2024 at 9:15 pm
Because vertical farms don’t make builders and land owners money. The main “rule” that stands in the way is capitalism as it always is
@bumpty9830
September 28, 2024 at 9:23 pm
Funny how rules get in the way of housing poor people, but the NEVER get in the way of bombing poor people.
@KingJH0510
September 28, 2024 at 9:26 pm
I lived in a room without a window for the past 12 years and i loved it. Honestly kinda scared of windows now
(It was part of a bigger room separated by a glass door)
@GreenandGrowing-ed1uc
September 29, 2024 at 5:49 pm
That’s because during the great depression people were literally walking out of the windows when they lost it all lmao
@tonyascaso6254
September 29, 2024 at 6:26 pm
Greed is the driving factor. If they could make money, along with kick and skim the regs would change very quickly.
@TheJestercraft
September 29, 2024 at 6:45 pm
I think the no opening office windows in America is because so may people where taking the short way down a long tower. Need to fix mental health and Urban design.
@nighthawk7151
September 29, 2024 at 6:51 pm
Vertical farming lol 😅 how about a store
@robcurtis1779
September 29, 2024 at 6:51 pm
I’ve been saying that for years, and predicted it decades ago
@andreacraik9757
September 29, 2024 at 6:53 pm
The window thing was in response to the 1929 jumpers!
@idontknowwhatahandleisohwell
September 29, 2024 at 6:54 pm
“we” – Government. not “we”
@markstuckless5039
September 29, 2024 at 7:04 pm
you dumb!
@bobalmond8257
September 29, 2024 at 7:08 pm
Vertical Farming has not taken off. They need very precise control and are therefore very dependent on constant management by humans or computers. Although they are probably going to be very useful in the future, currently they have a lot of problems we need to solve. There would also be the very real problem of smells. They require fertilizer and pesticides just like every conventionally planted crop. Those chemicals have a distinct scent that you might not want to live by.
@Osirus37
September 29, 2024 at 7:25 pm
Try getting a property rezoned 🤣🤣🤣
@phil111ify
September 29, 2024 at 7:28 pm
Its been done and usually its a disaster.
@TheWhale45
September 29, 2024 at 7:33 pm
There’s no WE.. The democrats did this to further keep a grip on the means of production. There is NO Logical reason that those buildings couldn’t be used for apts. Stop voting for democrats.
@EpicManaphyDude
September 29, 2024 at 7:33 pm
ah yes good ol ZONING REGS
@TheCephalon
September 29, 2024 at 7:34 pm
Also zoning. New owner of the building has to apply to the city to get that site rezoned for housing
@raymondslaughter7860
September 29, 2024 at 7:41 pm
They probably didn’t want reenactment of the stock market crash
@DCMarvelMultiverse
September 29, 2024 at 7:48 pm
Those buildings are kept abandoned for tax purposes.
@Phemruto
September 29, 2024 at 8:15 pm
probably because the office buildings plumbing was made to only support a couple of toilets per floor instead of like 50 per floor 1 for each apartment, the lack of carpark space is also a problem and then weight inside the building is another problem.
There are clear reasons why, it is easier to just knock down the building and build a new one.
@bnzn_exe
September 29, 2024 at 8:23 pm
So America basically f**ked itself.
@HaploidCell
September 29, 2024 at 8:25 pm
Um, so yeah, I totally agree, we should be turning offices into appartments.
What is not being said here is how expesive that is going to become.
Office buidlings often have a facade entirely made up of windows-elements. That is, since the window is perm-closed, it and the framework they’re in are a whole pannel for an entire section of that floor.
In order to install a window that can be openened, you will have to replace the entire panel.
So almost all of the front of a building.
And also also:
Plumping is your next enemy, because office buidlings have them cenralized and appartment buidlings need them de-centralized. So you’d have to do an infrastrucutre upgrade on that.
We’re not even talking about fire escapes etc. yet.
@tastyneck
September 29, 2024 at 8:36 pm
I recently read that my city’s mayor just recently waived the fees they were charging for offices-to-housing conversions. I guess she thought just the prospect was enough for developers to bite except apparently only one company did…in 2012. And, when asked, they were the one to tell the mayor that the fees were the main reason why developers were not interested. Which, when I read, is completely asinine as my city is DESPERATE for housing and the mayors office was trying to use these conversions as a source of tax income. Talk about standing in our own way. I guess we’ll see if anyone bites with this change.
@tourbike
September 29, 2024 at 8:39 pm
Its cheaper for a solid window that doesn’t have an opening
@tabc6870
September 29, 2024 at 8:46 pm
My company’s head office is 4 stories and pretty much empty. Makes no sense
@Pwh5476
September 29, 2024 at 8:59 pm
Also to add that office buildings usually arent equipped with plumbing (both water and sewage) capable of handling residential use. Electricity and air conditioning might need some redesign as well. Its a great idea, just expensive to implement when the buildings are not designed with residential use as a factor.
@chipsutcliffe7110
September 29, 2024 at 9:11 pm
An office is not an apartment. The issue is not windows. Offices are giant open spaces with a few bathrooms. Apartments are lots of rooms with lots of bathrooms, and the infrastructure is not up to the task. There is no way to economically add hundreds of bathrooms to an existing building without spending more than a new building would be. And vertical farming? Delusional…
@seiboldtadelbertsmiter3735
September 29, 2024 at 9:12 pm
It mostly boils down to greed and the fact that these commercial buildings if they don’t lease them out they can claim them as a loss and use them to get out of paying their fair share taxes all a big con
@WWFanatic0
September 30, 2024 at 4:23 pm
NIMBYs delenda est.
@truettadevil
September 30, 2024 at 4:37 pm
One thing Americans are gonna do is stand in the way of progress 🙄
@acmeallpurpose4974
September 30, 2024 at 4:44 pm
No one is allowed to jump out the window, it’s bad for morale. – HR
@Hortonscakes
September 30, 2024 at 4:49 pm
This man is HANDSOME!
@RbDaP
September 30, 2024 at 4:57 pm
Regulations? Try capitalism, and Im not even kidding. Most places in thr world you can demolish whatever office building ans build something else,if it comes to that. Oh wait, except the owner has local politicians on their pockets…
@Victor-ye6cz
September 30, 2024 at 5:00 pm
So easy to see how this guy is delusional beyond belief especially the last sentence
@JBaxter-pi8oj
September 30, 2024 at 5:21 pm
Wonderful ideas! Let’s all put more of these into practice. Thank you!
@dr_tal
September 30, 2024 at 5:33 pm
Beuacracy always stifles anything
@davidappell3105
September 30, 2024 at 5:37 pm
No windows available for potential interior apartments
@asdfjkl2600
September 30, 2024 at 5:48 pm
No they decided after the great depression that we can’t have office high rises with windows that open because too many people were jumping out of them.
@therealdemen247
September 30, 2024 at 5:50 pm
I’m not saying it’s a terrible idea, or that it’s not practical, but there are other challenges, factors, and costs associated with doing this aswell. A big issue is the infrastructure inside the building which, for example, doesn’t have plumbing for a bunch of individual domiciles with their own restrooms and kitchens etc. Now, there are cases of living spaces that don’t have their own kitchen or restroom and instead share with their neighbors, but I don’t think many office restrooms are robust enough to support the demand of permanent residents replacing office workers, not to mention they probably need to install showers etc. I’m not any kind of professional, but I do believe it holds enough merit to explore and see how and if it could be an effective solution.
@saritajensen9133
September 30, 2024 at 5:52 pm
Great point but most office buildings don’t have the correct plumbing/sewerage which can be complicated to bring up to the needed capacity. Also, water and garbage management needs to be addressed. Add in school districts that have to account for additional students… it’s not as simple as addressing the windows opening and closing.
@mujoo
September 30, 2024 at 5:54 pm
Same in Germany, I do not understand how lawyers who can not even scratch the concept of great architecture, tell us architects what we can do and can not do. Now of course there are rules needed for security and protection aspects (which a good architect thinks about anyway) but those should not be guaranteed by reducing architectural possibilities, but encourage the good architects and gets rid of the bad wanna bees.
@Guirko
September 30, 2024 at 6:03 pm
Yeah cool but are you guys seeing the shoulders on this dude?
@kanders7391
September 30, 2024 at 6:48 pm
We need to do Rent to Own so people can afford homes. And I think the cities/States should not just build or refurbish buildings into apartment buildings, but also sell each apartment as rent to own outright. Apartment owners can do a building account and cover their own building’s maintenance.
@themaggattack
September 30, 2024 at 7:00 pm
Rich corporate money mongers are standing in our way.
@bugglemagnum6213
September 30, 2024 at 7:03 pm
END ZONING
@MrTrainman96
September 30, 2024 at 7:13 pm
It’s because if you were to do this, there’d be a fire that would kill just about everyone in the building
@canary_inthecoalmine
September 30, 2024 at 7:18 pm
Why don’t architects have a trade union
@darthhodges
September 30, 2024 at 8:33 pm
You missed zoning laws. If a piece of land (regardless of what kind of building is on it) is zoned commercial you can’t put apartments there even if none of your concerns apply. If an empty lot is zoned commercial you can’t put apartments there. The details of such laws vary by jurisdiction but they exist to make it harder to repurpose land once it’s purpose has been declared by the government.
@theresolutemind9538
September 30, 2024 at 8:33 pm
Do you want to live there? Maybe so. But NOT the majority.
@pz3782
September 30, 2024 at 8:40 pm
Didn’t trump want to deregulate this kinda crap?
@Pedowood
September 30, 2024 at 8:50 pm
we do have small apartments. they’re just priced for affluent people, or those willing to spend 80% of their income on rent.
@bigastrofan1966
September 30, 2024 at 9:05 pm
And what about all the abandoned factories?
@martingomezmarinich7059
September 30, 2024 at 9:24 pm
Sorry but thats a hot man
@aelfkins
October 1, 2024 at 6:01 pm
One big differenc is Office building didn’t have the same amount of plumbing that apartment buildings do
@T____W____7777
October 1, 2024 at 6:05 pm
People who say we should turn commercial buildings into residential ones have either never spent a lot of time in either an apartment or office space. They’re not habitual areas.
@kovaliauskas
October 1, 2024 at 6:09 pm
Why is nobody talking about real estate speculation?
@Nerazmus
October 1, 2024 at 6:13 pm
No, not really.
There are millions of empty houses in the USA.
The actual issue is corporations refusing to sell at affordable prices.
@Theaterkid4L9733
October 1, 2024 at 6:16 pm
Or empty hotels… instant homeless/veteran shelters. Just buy the building at below market.
@glynislailann9056
October 1, 2024 at 6:27 pm
The buildings would have to have additional plumbing put in as well to accommodate bathrooms & kitchens. As far as I know, the ablution facilities in office buildings are one or two areas per floor depending on how large the floor area is.
@johntrygstad8207
October 1, 2024 at 6:48 pm
Ya know what’s crazy? We can just stop listening to the arbitrary rules that serve no one but the elite
@tacticallawyer
October 1, 2024 at 6:51 pm
office windows are sealed so that workers won’t jump out!
@Sly88Frye
October 1, 2024 at 7:04 pm
Okay wow! That’s really messed up that that’s the reason we can’t have apartments where offices used to be. I think it would be a really smart idea to convert closed down offices into apartments so more people have a place to live and it might not even be as expensive as just building a new apartment complex
@madadric
October 1, 2024 at 7:09 pm
The reason we have a housing crisis is that solving the housing crisis would undermine the housing market and hurt the profits of some very rich peopke/corporations
@TroyUlysses
October 1, 2024 at 7:13 pm
Because American office workers will jump out of open windows
@dasfowler
October 1, 2024 at 7:18 pm
The “at the point in American history where alcohol abuse and cocaine addiction overlap, a terrible decision was made that we are stuck with still” story is typically the answer.
@ABCABQ
October 1, 2024 at 7:25 pm
you had me until vertical farming.
@Xuaereved2014
October 1, 2024 at 7:34 pm
Where I am, lots of old office buildings are getting turned into apartments… problem is they are going after high income earners and these apartments start at $2000 month for a studio, up to $6000 a month for a 2 bedroom. I also don’t live in a major city….
@courtneytorres5137
October 1, 2024 at 7:37 pm
This is a deeply interesting, and compelling argument that I will look further into.
@matthuck378
October 1, 2024 at 7:46 pm
Capitalism needs rules. What we don’t need is rules that people game in order to make the most money. Like some zoning rules regarding building use.
@aryn32
October 1, 2024 at 8:03 pm
These ideas make sense but that isn’t important. Profit is more important. If someone isn’t able to make a profit then the idea means nothing regardless of how it might benefit society.
@slacksthegreat
October 1, 2024 at 8:16 pm
We need houses, not housing. Who wants to live in a box with a million other people.
@FASTRACKFARM
October 1, 2024 at 8:25 pm
Wow. You are SO wrong. WE didn’t agree to these pointless, impractical rules. Commitees appointed by politicians who serve without oversight make up more ‘safety’ rules Every year. We aren’t asked, we do not get to vote, and nobody ever checks or repeals the planning commission, the HOA, or the faceless bureaucrats mandates.
@Minivet
October 1, 2024 at 8:28 pm
Vertical farming is not an efficient use of space! It is not going to solve your proforma if you fill up your wide floor plate building with apartments and have huge windowless area in the middle. Try again
@donnaw4725
October 1, 2024 at 8:40 pm
No problem in my area. There are new blocks of apartments going up everywhere. Hopefully when they glut the market it will force rents down.
@mattkrumm8141
October 1, 2024 at 9:02 pm
Weren’t windows sealed in the U.S due to 1920 stock market crash, were people were jumping out of the buildings.
@brutusthebear9050
October 1, 2024 at 9:25 pm
Why would anyone looking for long term profits build apartments, when the government has shown that they’re more than willing to take away their right to evict a bad tenant? So, the only people building apartments are the ones who don’t care about quality.
@GOP1994GOP
October 1, 2024 at 9:25 pm
I live in a country where we have a disability support program. I have a disability. I am not eligible to receive assistance because my partner makes enough to pay half our rent.
Stupid rules made by stupid people. It’s really ignorance that stands in the way.
@LooseNut099
October 2, 2024 at 3:52 pm
All over the world, office buildings have windows that may be opened, especially in Europe. What sense does it make to have a hermetically sealed window? Bizarre.
@deborahlarson2650
October 2, 2024 at 3:52 pm
Great point! Now it’s out there (with your words) & could make a difference 🤔😀☺
@Martive_Led
October 2, 2024 at 3:58 pm
The sewerage and plumbing regulations would have to be revised. Hookup permitting to a system in place would probably require major changes and challenges.
@andresfelipe3730
October 2, 2024 at 4:55 pm
Please people, Keep voting for more Government regulations 🤷🏻♂️
@generalshrooms
October 2, 2024 at 5:16 pm
People think we’ll end up in a hellscape if we deregulate
@malaunnelson6562
October 2, 2024 at 5:41 pm
he said stand in our own way’, but then listed SEVERAL VERY GOOD RULES. The real answer is, in order to bring these building up to housing standards, for safety and energy, would be very expensive. So expensive that most people would be unable to afford the new properties. Now what is funny is that this question is not ground breaking. In fact it has been tried in London a number of times and failed. The new properties came with a myriad of problems. Noisy, too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, plumbing, etc. The simple fact is it is not easy to rework a feat of architecture to serve a purpose that is was not in anyway designed to serve. just because a building has four walls and roof does not mean it will make for good housing.
@imkyle65
October 2, 2024 at 5:43 pm
Isn’t plumbing and HVAC a real problem here. This video makes a lot of assumptions I feel
@miapdx503
October 2, 2024 at 5:55 pm
Here in Portland Oregon, we have a glut of high end apartments, many of them empty. But a dire shortage of affordable housing. I’ll never forgive our out going mayor for this, as record numbers of people, including veterans, are living and dying in our streets.
We have paid him well for screwing us over. Take your filthy lucre and go far away, 🤬
@adamnevraumont4027
October 2, 2024 at 6:04 pm
The owners of the office building expect premium rents, and they are leveraged devt wise to those premium rents. If the building is not generating premium rent, they go bankrupt. Going bankrupt on “empty office space” or “cheaper living space” is equally bankrupt, so there is no point in them trying.
@ryanzmuda3167
October 2, 2024 at 6:14 pm
We need some in leesburg Va
@caitlankelly4367
October 2, 2024 at 6:16 pm
I wonder why hotels don’t have to have windows that open?
@hermanndercheruskerfurst9095
October 2, 2024 at 6:20 pm
Bigger problem: How is an entire floor of apartments going to share one toilet without a shower?
@polkaputo3226
October 2, 2024 at 6:53 pm
we don’t need more housing, we need more affordable housing. there’s empty houses everywhere, the problem is nobody can afford them.
@ADobbin1
October 2, 2024 at 7:25 pm
Zoning. And the companies that own them don’t want to.
@No-ue5pi
October 2, 2024 at 7:33 pm
Man, I hate it so much! I live in a big city and the housing situation is crap, prices are through the roof and there’s sooo many applicants foe each place, the demand is crazy… And yet we have all these huge office buildings that stand empty for YEARS! AND they keep building more! And anytime housing is built, most of it is these crazy luxury apartment nobody can afford.
@iljacepelov3561
October 2, 2024 at 7:36 pm
Just have a look at this same situation in UK. most of the “revorks” are literally falling apart in couple of years, no air, terrible sanitation etc etc etc
@joshuashackelford6696
October 2, 2024 at 7:44 pm
Fixed windows are more energy efficient.
@44davewright
October 2, 2024 at 8:45 pm
The sad part is that there are more empty houses than there are unhoused people in America. You don’t need more places, you just need to put people into the empty houses
@Literallyarealhuman
October 2, 2024 at 8:46 pm
It’s way easier to build a office block than apartments
@loc4725
October 2, 2024 at 8:49 pm
*Fire safety.* If a fire starts in an open plan tower block office then you most definitely don’t want open windows feeding it with oxygen. And in an open plan office the fire escaoe routes are normally visually clear and easy to get to, but not so much if you’ve built a load of appartments in that space.
@maxhunter3574
October 2, 2024 at 9:01 pm
Cost per square foot for remodeling into livable apartments is sky high. Prive of the land minus demolition is the real value of the office space now.
@jeannemcclain3737
October 2, 2024 at 9:03 pm
I have wondered this about empty malls defunct buildings all over the country.
@garybrown1404
October 2, 2024 at 9:13 pm
Just because the many technical & cost of conversion problrms MAY (in theory) be overcome, it doesn’t automatically follow that the habitability of the resultant hybrid will be adequate. I see no aknowledgemment of the fact that emergency evacuation via stairways adequate for the smaller commercial occupancy may be inadequate for families as opposed to single workers. Likewise, the local public transportation system capacity would need to be increased, as would new school & grocery shopping resources. I’m sure there are many other concerns I overlooked (as I am no urban planner), but purpose-built projects all involve design & material compromises; conversions often prove to demand even more compromises.
@ricksevans
October 2, 2024 at 9:16 pm
Why not dormitories? I believe some people still live in them, so it is not impossible.
@Bigrignohio
October 2, 2024 at 9:20 pm
Then there is the fire barrier rules. Sanitary and water (not sized for the higher demand per square foot for apartments). Additional fire egress requirements. Building live and dead loading differences. Ventilation for kitchens and bathrooms. Higher electric load. MANY changes basically requiring a complete gut.
@GethOverlord
October 3, 2024 at 11:43 am
Comments: Why don’t we do things this way
Expert: We don’t but we should.
Comments: Communist >:(
@ChubbyUnicorn
October 3, 2024 at 12:22 pm
The is a tragic lack of imagination and problem solving ability in America is compensated by an over abundance of blame and greed.
@bened22
October 3, 2024 at 12:34 pm
In germany the whole area wouldn’t be permitted to be used for living if I remember correctly. (Something to do with taxes.) So we found our own way to stand in our way. ^^
@themontu7066
October 3, 2024 at 12:40 pm
I have just met you and I LOVE you. My ex was an architect and we’d get into these debates all the time, and my basic argument to him was “then fix the rules and do a little retrofitting of the building.” And it would baffle him. He’d usually respond with “well, that’s hard.” I’m an activist, I’ve never let “it’s hard,” stop me. We just need more activists going to town meetings to advocate for these changes. Not architects that have given up.
@wadecrawford6445
October 3, 2024 at 1:12 pm
The primary concern he should have addressed is actually Fire Alarms and Sprinklers and Means of Egresses. All of which can be addressed, but at exorbitant costs. Office Buildings are the LEAST restrictive Occupancy Group in International Code, where Residential is a higher risk for fatalities should there be a fire.
@dugongsdoitbetter
October 3, 2024 at 2:02 pm
I hate to hear people have logical resolutions to problems.
@moriijokavitch
October 3, 2024 at 2:16 pm
We should have designed farming space. Especially in cities. Not having a place to grow food is a solid way to start a food shortage when shipments can’t come in
@mindysuarez1699
October 3, 2024 at 3:08 pm
How bout empty schools. People buy them and are turning them into their house
@lotstodo
October 3, 2024 at 3:13 pm
I always thought it would be nice to have a small window that would open as part of the big office windows. Just some fresh air would have been nice. Or I would have liked to put my hand out in the rain. It would center you on bad days.
@stickynorth
October 3, 2024 at 3:14 pm
All skyscrapers should be mixed use and mixed income… There’s no reason we can’t fit in micro units into the same tower as ones with luxury penthouses other than classism..
@artfx9
October 3, 2024 at 4:05 pm
Yes! We need WeedHomes(c)!
@EllieM_Travels
October 3, 2024 at 4:56 pm
Because the oligarchs would have to allow the peasants to have some semblance of quality of life, and that’s just not acceptable to them.
@Tstopmotion
October 3, 2024 at 5:21 pm
Good point! It seems like plenty of older 1920’s office buildings are converted to apartment buildings in NYC. But those buildings have windows that open and shut. The 1960’s buildings with unopenable windows will be hard to convert into something someone wants to live in.
@williamboo9017
October 3, 2024 at 5:22 pm
Yay someone saying wat i been thinking for years
@williamboo9017
October 3, 2024 at 5:24 pm
Rules like this protect wall street
@KingNerdius
October 3, 2024 at 6:56 pm
People deserve affordable housing
@Konzon
October 3, 2024 at 7:00 pm
We need to get rid of the thousands of unnecessary and outdated regulations and zoning restrictions that are strangling the housing market.
@dzmeemz
October 3, 2024 at 7:22 pm
Great idea, except it very often costs way too much to make the conversion. The return on investment also takes a long time. Not worth the powder to blow the keg, as they say.
@francinemiranda8409
October 3, 2024 at 7:24 pm
Appreciate the informed answers! And am hoping they make a difference! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
@trx4957
October 3, 2024 at 7:33 pm
This is what Elon Musk means when he says America has become over regulated and it suffocating itself on BS regulations that need to be readjusted or modified
@russoley8995
October 3, 2024 at 7:47 pm
there. going to have to do something for all Carmel’s new spicks
@don2deliver
October 3, 2024 at 7:48 pm
Imagine if a candidate for president wanted to get rid of several existing laws for every new one.
Oh wait…….
@Ria-sd2ex
October 3, 2024 at 8:25 pm
Who is this man? I think I love him 😮❤
@phastinemoon
October 3, 2024 at 8:29 pm
Also, zoning laws about plumbing and electrical wiring.
@carolbjornsen487
October 3, 2024 at 9:20 pm
Because you’re using COMMON SENSE!