Strong potential for transforming offices into housing in the suburbs near Paris, according to a study

Many areas of the inner suburbs around Paris are suitable for the transformation of vacant offices into housing, according to an observatory which hopes to see such projects multiply in the midst of the housing crisis.

In a study to be presented on Tuesday, the Regional Observatory for Business Real Estate in Ile-de-France (ORIE) examined the situation of the office market, residential dynamics and the economic profitability of transforming offices into housing in 113 municipalities in the Paris region, spread across 34 demarcated zones.

The study of these three parameters is compiled in an "office recycling indicator", created ex nihilo with the aim of making it "a tool for dialogue" between local authorities and businesses and of accelerating the transformation of vacant offices into housing, explains Joachim Azan, president of ORIE.

"The first ring of Paris, which attracts populations in large numbers while the dynamics of offices slows down, offers strong prospects", concludes the study. These are the areas of "Clichy-Saint-Ouen, Vélizy-Villacoublay and Vanves to Gentilly (which) stand out as the territories where the potential for transforming offices into housing is the greatest in Ile-de-France".

In the Clichy-Saint-Ouen area, for example, "office vacancies have quadrupled in five years and there is a residential dynamic with nearly 30.000 new residents between 1999 and 2021 and the arrival of metro line 14 in Saint-Ouen, which makes this area attractive", explains Joachim Azan.

He adds that "the gap between the price per m2 of housing and office space is 5.600 euros in favor of housing, a gap large enough to consider a transformation project."

The ORIE, which brings together 140 public and private members, including local authorities, real estate developers and investors, wants "a change of scale" in the transformation of vacant offices into housing.

Based on the observation by the Immostat group that 5,2 million m2 of offices were empty in the Ile-de-France region as of September 30, the ORIE calculates that 7,5 million to 8,8 million m2 of housing could be created after restructuring existing buildings or demolition and partial or total reconstruction of buildings.

Enough to house between 289.000 and 340.000 people, the study also suggests, while 783.000 households are waiting for social housing in Ile-de-France, according to the Paris Region Institute.

Until now, there was a "blockage on the economic equation" of these projects, according to Joachim Azan, but the fall in office property prices, which are falling below the price of housing in certain areas, could cause a boom in the transformation of offices into housing.