by Michael Walsh
October 27, 2025 — America’s vacant hotels and underused offices are turning into rentals faster than ever: In 2024, nearly 25,000 apartments were created from converted buildings. That’s the strongest year on record and 50% more than in 2023, based on RentCafe.com’s latest report.
Hotels dominated 2024 conversions with 9,100 new apartments. The surprise trend of the year, though? Schools converted into apartments became the fastest-growing type of adaptive reuse.
And the next wave of projects is also record-worthy: An all-time high of 181,000 apartments are currently being converted nationwide, mostly from office spaces.
Here’s more on how the adaptive reuse trend evolved over the past year:
- Chicago leads the nation in apartments created through adaptive reuse after adding nearly 900 converted units in 2024 and surpassing last year’s leader, Manhattan, as shown in the graph below.
- Still, Manhattan held on to its edge in office conversions — but barely. The borough added 588 units coming from former office spaces, just four more than Dallas’s 584.
- Nationwide, 5,900 apartments came from office-to-residential conversions last year, marking a 34% rise compared to 2023.
- Nearly 2,000 apartments were created from school buildings across the U.S. in 2024, an all-time high and a fourfold increase compared to 2023.
What’s ahead?
- A record 181,000 apartments are now in various stages of development nationwide — up 19% from last year.
- Manhattan leads the nation’s adaptive reuse pipeline, with around 11,000 apartments in the works, leading in both future office and hotel conversions.
- Big projects are also underway in Los Angeles (5,600 units) and Washington, D.C. (4,200 units), with Atlanta, Brooklyn and Denver each gearing up for around 3,000 new apartments.
RentCafe’s full adaptive reuse report features easy-to-follow charts that break down all the data. RentCafe.com is a nationwide apartment search website and a part of Yardi. The group offers original city-based research, insights, and in-depth analysis of the real estate market.
