Commercial Conversion Initiative
MassHousing's Commercial Conversion Initiative promotes growth and vitality on main streets and in downtown areas while addressing the statewide need for new housing. The program provides municipalities with planning services that will accelerate the reuse and redevelopment of underutilized commercial buildings across Massachusetts by completing physical viability analyses that identify well-positioned buildings for commercial-to housing conversions.
To date, MassHousing has completed one phase of work under this initiative with 11 participating municipalities. Phase I identified approximately 190 'physically viable' commercial buildings across the 11 communities' main streets and downtowns. For additional details on the program's methodology for completing physical viability analyses, please view this information session recording.
Case Study: Pittsfield
The Commercial Conversion Initiative helps communities identify and advance the best candidates for housing redevelopment through a GIS-based analysis that assesses buildings' physical viability within study areas using a variety of architectural criteria. In this example, approximately 62 buildings were classified as including commercial office uses within Pittsfield's downtown area. Through additional GIS analysis that looked at physical attributes such as floorplate dimensions, area and number of stories, the Commercial Conversion Initiative identified 23 of these buildings as conversion-viable.
Downtown Study Area
Buildings on parcels with any office use
Conversion-Viable Buildings with a minimum of three stories and 2,000 gsf floorplate area