I can't read the article (maybe someone can post an archive link?) but I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't some implicit sabotage built in. Checking the rat

I can't read the article (maybe someone can post an archive link?) but I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't some implicit sabotage built in. Checking the rates per square foot for residential versus commercial (office) space in my area, residential is going about $2/sqft but commercial is $20/sqft. So in addition to the cost of conversion, the rents would have to be cut by an order of magnitude. Since the banks are on both sides of this equation (they probably hold loans against the buildings people are looking to convert, and they'd be making new loans to finance the conversion) I'm sure there will be some foot-dragging because of increased risk and higher loan values and longer loan repayment terms.