In addition to the legal procedures for the change of land use, one of the biggest challenges for the conversion of offices is the structural intervention of the properties, especially since these have specifications that are difficult to adapt to an apartment.

“Any corporate building basically has very centralized open floor plans. How is it going to be done so that the bathroom columns for the apartments have a hydraulic, sanitary connection, etc? It is not only changing offices to residences, you have to look at the technical issue of the property”, said Joaquín Zapiain, Colliers tenant advisory council.

Check here: Advance demand for offices in 2023 could encourage construction

For his part, Luis Manuel Gómez Portugal, founding partner and CEO of Eskema Arquitectos, explained to Inmobiliare that the complexity lies in the fact that the office facilities, especially water, are concentrated in the central nuclei, so changing them to housing It implies making a deep analysis to find a way to bring water to all corners.

In addition, each floor of a corporate property is higher than a residential one and, although it would be interesting to make spacious homes, this would also raise the cost of the units and could impact the profitability of the business.

"That's one of the reasons why developers don't normally build housing with such height, because it's simply more expensive and the modulations of a corporate building are higher," added the architect.

Of interest: Zoho projects an operations center in Querétaro with an investment of 10 million dollars

In this sense, he argued that finding the balance, from the financial point of view, to serve as a home is the key, although he said he was not sure if it would work for all segments or if they would have to target a certain market that could afford this kind of residence.

"I believe that the conversion of offices can be done and that it is a great idea, because they should not necessarily be done 100% residential, mixed-use buildings can be created that can be adapted," he concluded.

In Solili you can check offices available in Polanco, Insurgentes and Norte

Original note