Earlier this year, we ran a two-day online event on the conversion of offices to rental apartments. We had a range of speakers, from Canada and the U.S., including developers, architects and municipal government representatives.

The presentations were fascinating and I took a number of key points away from it, which I felt were valuable to share.

Converting office buildings is not a new idea; in fact I was part of a conversion project in Montreal in 2010 and there are other examples across the country as well.

But in this post-pandemic society, we have seen remote work increase across the board. As a result, we are seeing office vacancies and the opportunity to acquire certain office buildings for lower prices that make the conversion process more feasible . . . or at least worth considering.