Shuttered Big Box retail buildings become medical clinics. Abandoned warehouses become commercial buildings. Unused train stations become corporate offices.
As the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic continues to force organizations to make hard decisions about how to deal with unused and underused facilities, building owners and managers are taking a harder look at options for the adaptive reuse of these assets, according to The Santa Barbara Independent. For schools in one state, the possibilities include a surprising opportunity.
In a flurry of recent legislation and initiatives, California officials are pushing school districts to convert their surplus property into housing for teachers, school staff and even students and families. Some districts have already started. Now the state wants every district to become a landlord.
Tony Thurmond, the state’s superintendent of public instruction, recently pledged financial incentives for districts that pass bonds to build staff housing. His move comes on the heels of a report from UC Berkeley and UCLA that found school districts in California own 75,000 acres of developable land, enough to build 2.3 million housing units, which could wipe out the state’s housing shortage.
If a $10 billion school facilities bond passes this fall, schools could use that money to not only repair classrooms and other structures but to build teacher housing.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor for the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.
