In the wake of the pandemic, cities continue to struggle with the reactivation of urban cores. Employee interests in remote working options persevere, and as businesses navigate return-to-work policies amidst a competitive landscape for employee attraction and retention, the erosion of the office building market has undermined the health of urban cores. Exploring opportunities for office building conversions has become an essential strategy to support revitalization and foster a more vibrant downtown. The impact of these conversions goes beyond repurposing our building stock, also addressing the need to generate more varied housing market options, promote significant financial investment, and nurture additional foot traffic to support downtown retail, restaurant, and entertainment businesses.

With an evolving legacy of successful conversion projects and a range of new conversion projects underway, how do we best unlock value and impact through conversion in major cities?

Panelists:

Sheryl Schulze is a Principal and Studio Director in Gensler’s Chicago office, and she is a co-leader of the firm’s Building Transformation + Adaptive Reuse Practice Area. She brings more than 35 years of experience in strategic planning and design with expertise in adaptive reuse, relocation, and renovation. She led the architectural consultant team on the nation’s largest adaptive reuse, the Old Chicago Post Office. Sheryl is a frequent speaker on repositioning and is a trusted advisor to her clients, providing the insight and guidance needed to assist in the management of real estate portfolios and value-driven solutions. Sheryl is a board chair of Humble Design, a nonprofit helping families and veterans emerge from homelessness here in Chicago.

Steven Paynter is a Principal in Gensler’s Toronto office, and he is a co-leader of the firm’s Building Transformation + Adaptive Reuse Practice Area. He is widely recognized as an industry leader and an invaluable resource for market expertise to developers, landlords, and tenants alike. Steven is frequently called on to provide thought leadership and regularly speaks on topics such as unlocking the value of Class B & C buildings by converting them to residential, shaping the future of cities, the urbanization of suburbia, and design of post-pandemic office buildings. Engaged in original research, he has led the development of a tool for rapid assessment of existing office building stock for ESG performance. Steven was selected by Business Insider as one of their Top 100 People Transforming Business in 2022, and his work and leadership have been featured in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Calgary Herald, CBC, BBC, South China Morning Post, RTE, and Architectural Record.

Paul Shadle is a partner in DLA Piper's Development, Land Use and Government Affairs practice group. He concentrates his practice in the areas of general real estate development transactions, corporate real estate services, land use and zoning, public-private finance and incentives, historic preservation, and government affairs. Mr. Shadle represents owners, developers, investors, lenders, retailers and a variety of entrepreneurial and institutional clients in complex real estate, private and public financing, annexation, zoning and government-related matters for corporate, office, industrial, retail, residential, and mixed-use development projects.

Jonathan Morris is a nationally recognized expert in the commercial real estate industry. He is also an expert and leading voice in the field of real estate investment trusts or REITs. He has been an executive for several REITs, both public and private. Currently, Mr. Morris is CEO for REIT Academy, LLC, a private education platform he founded to teach the many details of REITs to working professionals using a remote, Zoom classroom protocol. REIT Academy augments his long career as an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, where he teaches an on-campus graduate level course, also on REITs. Mr. Morris continues to teach his class on REITs to graduate students pursuing their Master’s in Real Estate. He has been at Georgetown for 13+ years. Recently, Mr. Morris has formed Renaissance Partners, LLC, a new investment company that intends to focus on the business of converting office buildings to residential use. The launch date for Renaissance is planned for Q1, 2024.

Emily Ramsey is an expert in historic preservation tax incentives and in the preparation of National Register nominations and landmark designation reports for a wide variety of historic resources. Emily has served as a preservation consultant for many prominent historic rehabilitation projects in Chicago and throughout the Midwest. She has also prepared successful National Register nominations and local designation reports for a wide range of properties, including industrial loft buildings, post-war affordable housing complexes, school buildings, apartment hotels, downtown office skyscrapers, hotels, post offices, and military housing. Emily currently serves on Landmarks Illinois’ Real Estate and Building Industries Council (RBIC) and is a member of the Historic Tax Credit Coalition.