Arlington CivFed Housing Committee: Office-To-Residential Conversions

The following announcement was shared by an Arlington Patch reader.

Arlington County Civic Federation Housing Committee meeting:

• Special Guest: Lex Lefebvre, Senior Vice President of Lowe
• When: Thursday, Nov. 30, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. via Zoom

The federal government recently announced a new plan to unlock funding and technical assistance for office-to-residential conversions.to help local governments address rising commercial vacancies. D.C., Alexandria, and New York City have made notable progress.

Barriers to conversion in most cities include physical, regulatory, and financial constraints (as outlined in a recent Wall Street Journal article.)

Arlington’s commercial vacancy rate at 23 percent is one of the highest in the region. The county adopted OTR guidelines in 2020; also noted in this 2021 ARLnow article. Arlington also launched a Commercial Market Resiliency Initiative in 2022, Phase 2.0, launched recently, will explore OTR opportunities.

Against this backdrop, Lex Lefebvre, Senior Vice President of Lowe, a California-based developer, will discuss Lowe’s recent success converting two office towers in Alexandria (near King St. and I-395) into 435 residential units. Lefebvre will discuss his experience working with the city government, addressing financing and architectural challenges, and his offer views of the current market.

To register for the ACCF Housing Committee's Zoom meeting on Thursday, visit this website to sign up.