Repurposing buildings is a growing global trend, and it’s one that’s spreading in New York City, says a recent New York Times article. Most conversions are office buildings to apartments, but office buildings aren’t the only buildings being converted. Old industrial buildings, schools, churches and even old parking garages are fair game.

One reason conversions are so popular is some of the older buildings are larger than what current zoning laws would allow, and with space in New York being at premium, keeping the original structure can be extremely beneficial for developers. Another reason is that the number of historic districts that are protected from being torn down is also high, making it harder to find areas of the city to build something from the ground up.

Read the full story at: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/realestate/creating-new-york-apartments-from-unlikely-buildings.html