Downtown L.A.'s World Trade Center Is Becoming Apartments. What Office Conversions Mean for San Diego and Chicago

Offices into homes. According to the Los Angeles Times, a $200 million renovation will convert the aging L.A. World Trade Center downtown into a 512-unit apartment complex. The project anchors a larger effort to build 4,000 affordable apartments across Los Angeles.

On its face, this is an affordable housing story. It also points to a bigger shift that affects how buyers and sellers should think about urban cores in both of our markets.

Why this keeps happening

Downtown office towers across the country have struggled since hybrid work took hold. The same LA Times coverage has followed a steady exit of corporate tenants from downtown L.A. When a building can no longer earn its keep as office space, turning it into housing is one of the few ways to put it back to work. Conversions are expensive and technically hard (floor plates, plumbing, and window access don't always cooperate), so each one that gets funded tells you something about where cities are placing their bets.

What it means in Chicago

Chicago has pursued its own office-to-residential push along LaSalle Street, where older Loop buildings are being reworked into apartments. For condo owners in and around the Loop, more full-time residents downtown generally means more street life, more retail staying open after 6 p.m., and stronger demand for nearby services. For buyers, it is worth asking what is planned within a few blocks of any downtown unit you are considering. A dark office tower next door and a newly occupied residential building next door are very different neighbors.

What it means in San Diego

Downtown San Diego carries its own share of older office stock, and the conversation about reuse is not going away. Buyers looking at condos in the urban core should watch how those buildings evolve, because a neighborhood that adds residents tends to feel more complete over time. Sellers in established downtown buildings can point to that long-term trend as part of the story they tell buyers.

Our take

One converted tower does not change a housing market by itself. Still, conversions reshape the blocks around them, and that is where real value is felt. Our team tracks these projects closely in both San Diego and Chicago. If you own or are shopping downtown, we are happy to walk you through what is in the pipeline near a specific building and how it could affect your plans.