There were already multiple projects like this underway in my city, with several more buildings that would be good candidates for this kind of thing. We had lost a lot of office rentals before covid, and now with even more suburban people working from home, we have the double whammy of lost city income tax from the WFH people. We also have a housing crunch in my city, with a serious lack of available units in desirable areas driving up rents.

So, my city has a looming cash flow problem, an already established housing crisis, and shitloads of square footage of real estate in pri) me locations sitting empty. Seems like a ready-made solution to all of these things is available, right?

However, as you pointed out, converting these old office buildings can be trickier and more expensive. That’s where these programs come in. I suspect that the Biden admin has looked at all these factors in cities across the country and seen that giving an incentive to developers (who were already interested in such projects) to move forward.

Is it perfect? Hell no. I hate the idea of giving public funds to private developers just for them to be able to charge rents. I would also like at least some of these units be available for purchase as condos. That said, that’s the kind of system the US has for solutions to every problem: put taxpayer money in the hands of private middlemen so that they can take a profit.