“At the end of the day, I think the problem is that we have too much office relative to our future needs, and a lot of places have too little housing. So I think one way or another, we’re going to have to turn some of that office space into apartments,” said Van Nieuwerburgh. “That might have to partially happen through demolition. But it would be nice if we could have at least some of it through conversion. It’s sort of the environmentally friendly way to go.”
In the downtown cores, where demolition costs are highest, there are lots of businesses that would be willing to re-locate once rents reset. Suburban office parks are the ones that should be torn down and redeveloped.