# Office-to-Residential Conversions Are a Talent Problem

> Office-to-apartment conversions reached 90,300 units in the pipeline, but every unit needs its own plumbing, air and egress. The crews are the hard part.

- Canonical: https://praxagency.com/blog/office-to-residential-conversion-labor
- Author: Prax Agency
- Published: 2026-11-04
- Updated: 2026-11-04
- Topic: Commercial Real Estate

## The short version

- RentCafe counted 90,300 apartments in the office-conversion pipeline at the start of 2026, up 28% in a year. Offices are now 47% of all future adaptive reuse projects.
- An office is built around a central core. An apartment building needs plumbing, ventilation, egress and daylight in every unit, and that is trade-heavy, renovation-heavy work.
- AGC and NCCER’s 2026 survey finds roughly three-quarters of firms with openings struggling to hire plumbers and HVAC technicians, and 74% struggling to hire project managers and supervisors.

Everyone who talks about converting offices to apartments starts with the money. Interest rates, rents, the price per square foot. All fair. But a conversion that pencils on paper still has to be built by someone, and the someone is in short supply.

An office building is designed around a core. Apartments are designed around a unit. Turning one into the other means rebuilding a building’s guts, floor by floor, and that is trade-intensive work most ground-up office crews and many property teams have never done.

## How big is the conversion pipeline?

Large, and growing. [RentCafe counted](https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/?p=145429) about 90,300 apartments in the process of conversion nationwide at the start of 2026, up 28% from 70,600 a year earlier. Office conversions now account for 47% of all future adaptive reuse projects. The report was published in March and updated in April.

| Figure | What it measures |
| --- | --- |
| 90,300 | apartments in the office-conversion pipeline at the start of 2026, up 28% from 70,600 |
| 47% | of future adaptive reuse projects are office conversions |
| 72 yrs | average age of buildings in future conversions, against 62 for completed ones |

Source: [RentCafe, March 24, 2026 (updated April 2, 2026)](https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/?p=145429)

The work is concentrated. [According to the same report](https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/?p=145429), New York leads with 16,358 units in the backlog, well ahead of Washington, D.C.

**Office-to-apartment conversion backlog, top metros**

Units in the future pipeline, early 2026. A pipeline counts planned and underway projects, not finished buildings.

| Measure | Value |
| --- | --- |
| New York | 16,358 |
| Washington, D.C. | 8,479 |
| Chicago | 4,360 |
| Los Angeles | 4,340 |
| Denver | 2,991 |
| Philadelphia | 2,697 |

Source: [RentCafe, Office-to-apartment conversions break records again](https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/?p=145429)

Mind what the number is. It counts projects in the pipeline, not finished buildings, and a pipeline is a plan.

## Why are owners converting at all?

Because the office market is still carrying a lot of empty space, and the count depends on who you ask. [CBRE reported](https://www.cbre.com/insights/figures/q3-2026-us-office-market-report) overall U.S. office vacancy of 18.2% in Q3 2026, its fifth consecutive quarterly decline and down 60 basis points from a year earlier. Prime space is tighter at 11.9%. [Moody’s put vacancy at 21%](https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/office/moodys-office-vacancy-hits-21-in-q1-another-record-high-133979) in the first quarter of 2026, up 10 basis points on the quarter. The two firms track different sets of buildings, so don’t average them. Read them as a range, and as a split: the good space is filling, and the rest is the conversion candidate.

## Which buildings are actually viable?

Fewer than the pipeline headline suggests. [Gensler reports](https://www.gensler.com/office-to-residential-services?o=new-york) that about 30% of the more than 1,300 buildings it has assessed in 170 cities are suitable for conversion. Its screening tool weights floor plate at 30%, building form at 30%, servicing at 20%, and site context and envelope at 10% each. That is one firm’s sample and one firm’s scoring, not a census, but the shape of it is useful: geometry decides first.

[RentCafe’s analysis](https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/?p=145429) also finds that the buildings headed for conversion skew old, averaging about 72 years against 62 for finished projects, though newer offices from the 1990s to 2010s make up 6.4% of future conversions against 2% of completed ones. It estimates that over 1.9 billion square feet of office space, about 24% of inventory, is suitable.

> A conversion doesn’t fail on the day you close. It fails the first time nobody on site has run a riser through an occupied slab.

## Why is this a labor problem and not just a financing one?

Start with the plumbing. [Plescia Construction & Development puts it plainly](https://plescia-cd.com/can-your-nyc-office-building-be-converted-to-residential-key-feasibility-factors/): office buildings are not designed for the density of plumbing that residential use requires, and the location and capacity of existing risers is a factor to assess early. Office plumbing is usually clustered in the core. [In residential buildings, plumbing is distributed throughout](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/analysis-heres-what-it-would-take-to-turn-empty-office-buildings-into-residential-housing), and the same analysis warns that reworking the sanitary sewer is much more difficult on upper floors.

That is the wet wall problem. Every kitchen and bathroom needs its supply, drain and vent stacked above and below the next unit, and cutting new penetrations through slabs takes people who do it for a living.

Then there is everything else each unit needs:

- **Ventilation.** [Office HVAC is sized for an office](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/analysis-heres-what-it-would-take-to-turn-empty-office-buildings-into-residential-housing). Residential buildings typically carry a smaller load, and an oversized system can cause humidity problems. Someone has to redesign it and balance it.
- **Egress and life safety.** Plescia flags [additional or modified stairways and fire separation between units](https://plescia-cd.com/can-your-nyc-office-building-be-converted-to-residential-key-feasibility-factors/) as likely upgrades.
- **Daylight.** Residential units require [access to natural light and air](https://plescia-cd.com/can-your-nyc-office-building-be-converted-to-residential-key-feasibility-factors/), and deep floor plates limit how much space can be used for units. That governs layouts, framing and the envelope work at the windows.

None of this is exotic. All of it is renovation work, done in a building with a history, where the drawings are sometimes wrong. A crew that has only built new office shells has not met these problems at this density.

## Who is actually available to do the work?

Not many people, and the roles the conversions lean on are the ones contractors already report as hardest to fill. In the [2026 AGC and NCCER survey](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/users/user21902/2026%20Workforce%20Survey%20Analysis%20%284%29.pdf), conducted in July and August with 1,830 respondents, 77% of firms with HVAC technician openings reported difficulty filling them, and roughly three-quarters of firms with plumber openings said the same. On the salaried side, 74% of firms with openings for project managers and supervisors reported difficulty, and 75% for superintendents. Treat those as survey responses from firms with openings, not a count of every contractor.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics sees demand rising. It projects [plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters.htm) to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 42,000 openings a year and a May 2025 median wage of $63,800. For [HVAC mechanics and installers](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/installation-maintenance-and-repair/heating-air-conditioning-and-refrigeration-mechanics-and-installers.htm), it projects 11% growth, about 40,600 openings a year, and a median of $61,010. These are national projections for the occupations overall, not for conversion work.

## What roles does a conversion need, and when?

This is a planning outline, not a published standard. It maps the work described above to the people who do it.

| Phase | Core work | Roles it leans on |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Feasibility | Floor plate, window-to-core distance, riser capacity, egress paths | Asset manager, architect, MEP engineer, cost estimator |
| Selective demolition | Strip floors, survey hidden conditions, protect what remains | Superintendent, demolition crew, abatement specialists |
| Structure and envelope | Slab penetrations for stacks, new or altered window openings, shafts | Project manager with renovation experience, structural trades, glazing crew |
| Plumbing | New stacks, risers, wet walls, unit-level supply, drain and vent | Plumbers, pipefitters, plumbing foreman |
| Mechanical and electrical | Unit-level ventilation and HVAC, metering, panels, fire alarm | HVAC technicians, electricians, controls technician, commissioning agent |
| Life safety | Stairs, corridors, unit separation, sprinklers | Fire protection trades, superintendent, code consultant |
| Inspection and turnover | Testing, punch lists, certificate of occupancy, handoff to operations | Project manager, building engineer, property manager |

Read down the right-hand column. The roles are mostly the ones AGC and NCCER’s respondents say they struggle to hire, and most of them have to be on site at the same time.

## What should owners and developers do about it?

1. **Hire the renovation project manager first.** Before the pro forma is final, put in the person who has run occupied-building or gut-renovation work. The estimate improves, and so does the choice of contractor.
2. **Ask contractors about their plumbing and HVAC benches by name.** A bid from a firm that cannot staff the risers is a risk, not a price.
3. **Sequence the trades.** Plumbing and mechanical work set the pace on every floor. Plan the order of floors so the same crews move through repeatedly, and keep them.
4. **Plan the handoff to operations.** A converted building needs [building engineers](https://praxagency.com/blog/aging-buildings-skilled-trades-shortage) who understand unit-level systems. Recruit them before turnover, not after the first leak.
5. **Test viability on geometry before price.** If the floor plate fails, no labor plan will save it.

## The question under the pipeline

Ninety thousand apartments in the pipeline is a statement about demand for housing and the supply of empty offices. It says nothing about who will build them. Financing is a spreadsheet problem. Crews are a people problem. If the next wave of conversions slips, how many of the delays will trace back to a financing term sheet, and how many to a riser nobody was available to run?

If a conversion is on your board and the crew plan is still a blank page, [we’d like to hear about it](https://praxagency.com/hire).

## Common questions

### How many office-to-residential conversions are in the pipeline?

RentCafe counted about 90,300 apartments in the process of conversion nationwide at the start of 2026, up 28% from 70,600 a year earlier. Offices made up 47% of all future adaptive reuse projects. Source: [RentCafe](https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/?p=145429).

### What is the national office vacancy rate?

It depends on who is counting. CBRE put overall U.S. office vacancy at 18.2% in Q3 2026, its fifth straight quarterly decline. Moody’s reported 21% for Q1 2026. The two firms track different property sets. Source: [CBRE](https://www.cbre.com/insights/figures/q3-2026-us-office-market-report).

### Which office buildings are viable for conversion to apartments?

Fewer than most owners hope. Gensler reports that about 30% of the more than 1,300 buildings it has assessed are suitable, and it weights floor plate and building form at 30% each. Plumbing, light, air and egress decide the rest. Source: [Gensler](https://www.gensler.com/office-to-residential-services?o=new-york).

### Which trades do office conversions depend on?

Plumbers and pipefitters, HVAC technicians, electricians, and project managers and supervisors with renovation experience. In the 2026 AGC and NCCER survey, 77% of firms hiring HVAC technicians and 74% of firms hiring project managers reported difficulty filling those roles. Source: [AGC and NCCER](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/users/user21902/2026%20Workforce%20Survey%20Analysis%20%284%29.pdf).

## Sources

1. [Office-to-apartment conversions break records again, with 90K rentals in the pipeline](https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/?p=145429), RentCafe, March 24, 2026 (updated April 2, 2026).
2. [Q3 2026 U.S. Office Market Report](https://www.cbre.com/insights/figures/q3-2026-us-office-market-report), CBRE, October 23, 2026.
3. [Moody’s: Office Vacancy Hits 21% in Q1, Another Record High](https://www.bisnow.com/national/news/office/moodys-office-vacancy-hits-21-in-q1-another-record-high-133979), Bisnow, April 6, 2026.
4. [Office-to-Residential Services](https://www.gensler.com/office-to-residential-services?o=new-york), Gensler, accessed November 2026.
5. [Can Your NYC Office Building Be Converted to Residential? Key Feasibility Factors](https://plescia-cd.com/can-your-nyc-office-building-be-converted-to-residential-key-feasibility-factors/), Plescia Construction & Development, April 8, 2026.
6. [Analysis: Here’s what it would take to turn empty office buildings into residential housing](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/analysis-heres-what-it-would-take-to-turn-empty-office-buildings-into-residential-housing), PBS NewsHour, from The Conversation, July 15, 2023.
7. [2026 Workforce Survey Analysis](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/users/user21902/2026%20Workforce%20Survey%20Analysis%20%284%29.pdf), Associated General Contractors of America and NCCER, September 2026.
8. [Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters, Occupational Outlook Handbook](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/construction-and-extraction/plumbers-pipefitters-and-steamfitters.htm), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, last modified October 29, 2026.
9. [Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration Mechanics and Installers, Occupational Outlook Handbook](https://www.bls.gov/ooh/installation-maintenance-and-repair/heating-air-conditioning-and-refrigeration-mechanics-and-installers.htm), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, last modified October 29, 2026.

This article is general information, not legal, financial, or employment advice. Statistics are as published by their sources on the dates shown.