Commercial Property

Out of office: the pros and cons of converting to residential

Opinions differ as to the viability of repurposing office buildings for housing use, but a leading developer has already had success with such a conversion and plans to do more

Springville House, Cork: a converted office building, comprising four one-bedroom single-storey houses, 13 two-bedroom apartments and 18 one-bedroom apartments, which is managed by housing charity Tuath. Picture: Jed Niezgoda

Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien’s proposals to convert office blocks to apartments have received a mixed reaction from some in the industry.

However, one developer who has already had one successful conversion plans to do more. Last November, Harcourt Developments and Tuath, a housing charity, completed the redevelopment of the Park West Plaza, an office block in Dublin, into 86 apartments.

The project included the conversion of two four-storey office blocks that had been vacant ...