National apartment rents edged up 0.4 percent over the year in July, holding near $1,808, while occupancy eased about half a point to 94.2. That small divergence — rents rising as buildings grow slightly emptier — is the quiet national signature of supply beginning to outpace demand: occupancy softens first, rents follow later. The headline numbers barely moved. But beneath them sits a five-year story that explains where rents are rising today and where they are falling — and it begins, as these stories usually do, with supply.

The Building Wave

Start with what developers built, because it drives everything else. A normal year adds roughly 2 percent of existing stock in new apartments — the steady, long-run pace for most markets. When rents surged in 2022 — the Southeast up 16 percent, the West and Southwest above 13 — developers did what the signal told them to do: they built well beyond that pace. But apartments take years to deliver, so the construction the 2022 surge triggered did not arrive until 2023 and 2024. The chart shows the chase plainly. Completions in the Southeast climbed from under 3 percent of stock to 5.6 percent by 2024 — nearly triple the normal rate; the West and Southwest followed to roughly 4 percent. The Midwest never joined — its completions held near the 2 percent baseline the entire period and never once exceeded 3.1. Now the wave is cresting: the forecast shows deliveries receding across every region through 2031, but the damage to rent growth in the overbuilt regions is already done, and the Midwest's discipline is projected to continue.

The Surge That Reversed

Rent growth is the mirror image of that supply wave, offset by about two years. Every region surged in 2021 and 2022, but the ones that spiked hardest gave the most back. Southeast rent growth ran to 16 percent in 2022, then collapsed to near zero by 2024 as its delivery wave landed. The West and Southwest followed the same path — steep spike, hard fall. The Midwest, which peaked most modestly at just over 10 percent, decelerated gently and still posts the strongest rent growth in the country. Place the two charts side by side and the mechanism is unmistakable: rents surged, supply chased two years later, and rents corrected wherever that supply arrived. The regions that chased the surge built their own correction. The one that didn’t kept its rent growth intact.

That is the engine of this market. The rest of the month’s data is the latest reading of it.

Rent Growth by Region, Now

As of July, the Midwest leads every region at 2.6 percent — more than six times the national rate. The West and Southeast sit near the national line at 0.7 and 0.6, while the Northeast and Southwest have slipped below zero, at −0.1 and −0.4. The ranking is exactly what the trajectories predicted: the disciplined region on top, the regions still absorbing their delivery waves at the bottom.

Rent Growth by Class

The same logic runs through the asset classes, nationwide. The most affordable segment, Workforce-Lower, grew fastest at 4.5 percent, with Low Mid-Range and Workforce-Upper close behind. At the top, Discretionary managed 0.9 percent and Upper Mid-Range 0.7. The cheaper the apartment, the faster its rent grew — a clean staircase from the luxury tier to the affordable floor. New construction is overwhelmingly upper-tier product, so the same supply dynamic that separates regions separates classes: rents hold where little is being built, and the affordable floor is where almost nothing is.

Occupancy

Occupancy sorts the same way and confirms the read. The Northeast is tightest at 95.7 percent and the Southwest softest at 92.5 — the same Southwest posting the steepest rent decline. Where occupancy runs high, supply is scarce and rents hold; where it has softened, deliveries have outpaced demand.

By class the spread is starker still. Discretionary occupancy sits at 91.3 percent against Workforce-Lower's 97.3 — a six-point gap that mirrors the rent-growth staircase exactly. The affordable floor is not only growing fastest, it is the fullest, while the luxury tier is both the slowest-growing and the emptiest. Occupancy leads rent, so the soft spots today — the Southwest, and the Discretionary tier everywhere — mark where rent has further to fall.

What It Means

Three time horizons, one conclusion. The building wave shows what happened — supply chased the 2022 surge and corrected it. The rankings show where that has left each region and class today. The forecast shows it continuing, with the Midwest’s pipeline the thinnest of any region. Across all three, the variable is supply, not demand: national occupancy has barely moved, so the regions and segments pulling apart are pulling apart on how much was built and how much is still coming. The rent growth is where the supply isn’t — it was true five years ago, it is true this month, and the pipeline says it will be true for years yet.

For questions on this report, contact Eve Moss, founder of Clarendon and editor of MarketRent™

Data: Yardi Matrix, asking-rent basis, July 2026; regional and supply figures compiled by Clarendon. Regional groupings follow the five-region structure used by HUD's Office of Multifamily Housing (Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, West); markets assigned by primary state. National weighted across all markets; figures may revise as additional properties report. Supply figures are Yardi Matrix completions data (2019–2026) and six-year forecast (2027–2031).

Pulse — What We're Tracking

• The RAD cap rises — and RAD becomes permanent. The new housing law lifts the Rental Assistance Demonstration cap by 100,000 units, from 455,000 to 555,000, and makes the program permanent by removing its sunset date, while codifying existing resident protections in statute. For public housing authorities, that’s a clearer runway to convert aging public housing onto the Section 8 platform — a more stable and financeable base for preservation, and the change many owners in this readership have been waiting on. In a Major Win for Housers, the ROAD to Housing Act Becomes Law — NAHRO

• The cost squeeze is national, and it’s structural. LISC’s June report, The State of Affordable Housing, finds operating expenses at affordable properties up 35 percent per unit since 2018 — insurance alone up 110 percent, administration 51 percent — even as Yardi projects affordable starts falling to 68,000 units in 2026 and 51,000 in 2027. The mechanism applies to every owner: rising expenses compress net operating income, and compressed NOI pressures values and defers the capital reinvestment that keeps buildings sound. Fewer new affordable units, under more cost strain — the squeeze runs both ways. The State of Affordable Housing — LISC, June 2026

• Opportunity Zones reset — and the map is being drawn now. The Opportunity Zone program is now permanent, and a new tract map takes shape this year: the nomination period opened July 1, governors submit eligible census tracts through the fall, and Treasury certifies the new OZ 2.0 designations in the fourth quarter, effective January 1, 2027. Eligibility is tighter than the 2017 map, so the tracts drawn this cycle will concentrate the next decade of OZ capital more narrowly. It matters here because OZ capital builds housing — HUD credits the program with roughly 313,000 units from 2019 to 2024, largely multifamily. For owners and developers weighing an acquisition or disposition in one of these corridors, the designations landing this fall are the variable to watch. Opportunity Zones Updates — HUD

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© 2026 The Clarendon Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclosure

Cleveland-Akron multifamily rents grew 3.0% over the past year — a middling number, the kind that belongs in a market summary written to be forgotten.

It describes nothing that is actually happening on the ground. Within the city of Cleveland alone, North Collinwood rents grew 11.0% over the past year — while South Collinwood, the neighborhood that shares its name, fell 1.3%. Between those two ends sit dozens of submarkets ranging across every direction the market can move: a spread of more than a dozen points behind a headline that reads as flat. The 3.0% is the average of forces pulling hard in opposite directions, and the average is the one figure that describes none of them.

The spread is not noise, and it is not explained by the metro. It is local — and, increasingly, it is showing up in value.

The Spread Is Real — and Local

The strongest and weakest submarkets sit a few miles apart — and it isn’t outer-versus-inner.

The spread does not reduce to a tidy rule. The submarkets posting the strongest rent growth are inner neighborhoods, not far-flung suburbs — North Collinwood (+11.0%) on the near East Side, Shoreway (+9.6%) and Edgewater (+6.0%) on the near West Side. The weakest are scattered too: South Collinwood (−1.3%), Glenville (−0.7%), and pockets along the inner-ring east. Neighborhoods that share a border can sit on opposite sides of the line. What separates them is not one metro-wide force but the specific trajectory of each submarket — its occupancy, its recent deliveries, and the direction of investment around it.

That is the recurring lesson of reading a market at the submarket level rather than the metro level. The headline is built for a national audience comparing one city to another. It was never built for an owner deciding what to do with a specific property — and for that decision, the 3.0% is actively misleading. It tells an owner in North Collinwood the market is flat when it grew eleven points; it tells an investor that Cleveland is unremarkable when the detail shows real strength and real softness a few miles apart.

The Spread Becomes a Value Spread

What rent does to net operating income, it eventually does to price.

Rent growth and occupancy are what underwrite net operating income, and net operating income is what sets value. So, the submarket rent spread does not stay a rent story. With a lag, it becomes a value story — visible in what these assets are worth and what they trade for.

Where Demand Is Being Rebuilt

The corridor’s rents are modest. Its demand trajectory is not.

The transaction data is starting to show it, and the clearest place to watch is the corridor this series has been tracking — Hough, Fairfax, Kinsman, and University Circle, the East Side neighborhoods the Opportunity Corridor reconnected to the city’s economic core.

The corridor’s own rent growth has been modest — Hough up 3.2%, Fairfax barely above zero — middling within the spread, not leading it. So why watch it? Because what is changing there is not this year’s rent; it is the demand underneath it.

The answer is that not all supply is the same. The pipeline arriving on the East Side is arriving with demand attached. Three initiatives are converging on the same few square miles. The Midline — a 350-acre redevelopment of long-vacant near-east-side land between Downtown and University Circle — is projected to deliver more than 1.5 million square feet of commercial space, on the order of 2,500 jobs, and roughly $100 million in annual tax revenue, with some 115,000 residents within a fifteen-minute reach. In June, Cleveland City Council approved a Housing Innovation District over Hough, Central, and St. Clair-Superior, pairing a thirty-year tax-increment-financing district — projected to generate $90 to $245 million for neighborhood infrastructure — with halved multifamily permitting, waived single-family permit fees, and a form-based rezoning. The mayor’s office counts more than $368 million in transformational projects already underway across the corridor and frames the effort explicitly as housing policy joined to industrial policy.

Here is the distinction that matters. New supply that arrives on its own competes for a fixed pool of renters and pressures rent. Supply that arrives with jobs, infrastructure, and institutional capital behind it expands the pool faster than it fills. The East Side’s investment is deliberately the second kind — which is why the corridor’s modest current rent is less telling than the demand trajectory now being built beneath it. The mixed-income projects already completed on that logic, like Aura at Innovation Square, were the early evidence; the public capital now committed is the structural case.

What the rent data and the committed investment point to is a forward case, not a finished one: the corridor is stabilizing, and the capital now in motion is designed to lift it. Whether that reaches value is a question the transaction record will answer as more arm’s-length sales close — and the forthcoming Cleveland report tracks them.

The Decision the Metro Number Can’t Make

The metro number can’t answer the only question that matters for your property.

For an owner: your submarket’s trajectory, not the metro’s, is what bears on your rent position — and what that trajectory is doing to your asset’s value is the question behind the question. Whether the supply near you is demand-anchored or arriving alone is the difference between a tailwind and a headwind. Neither is answered by a 3.0% headline.

For an investor: the spread is the opportunity set. The submarkets moving hardest against the metro number, in both directions, are where the analysis produces something actionable — and where supply, demand, and price are moving together rather than apart.

The full picture — the five-year price-per-unit breakdown by asset class and submarket, the East Side comp set, and the supply pipeline neighborhood by neighborhood, set against where the corridor’s public investment is landing — is the subject of the forthcoming MarketRent™ Cleveland report.

If you own affordable or multifamily property in Cleveland, the question isn’t the metro average — it’s whether your submarket is a tailwind or a headwind for a sale. Clarendon Property Advisors advises owners on affordable and multifamily transactions. Request a confidential asset evaluation →

Pulse — What We're Tracking

• Cleveland approves a Housing Innovation District for the East Side (Ideastream, June 1) — The city is pairing housing with jobs in the exact corridor this issue tracks; policy is now the demand story underneath the rent numbers.

• Affordable supply is slowing but still near record highs (Yardi Matrix, June 2026) — Fully affordable deliveries eased to 91,841 in 2025 from a 99,558 peak in 2024 — still the second-highest on record — even as starts fell ~20% year-over-year in Q1 2026; federal tax-credit funding is propping up the affordable pipeline while market-rate construction pulls back.

• House advances FY27 HUD bill with deep cuts (PHADA Advocate, June 2026) — The House Appropriations Committee moved a FY27 T-HUD bill funding HUD at $71.4B — nearly $6B (8%) below FY26 — though project-based Section 8 fares better than most accounts; the Senate hasn't acted and a continuing resolution looks likely. The federal funding backdrop every affordable owner is underwriting against.

  Also tracking:

• The Midline business district — the jobs-and-greenway spine the East Side thesis rests on

• National multifamily rents (Yardi Matrix) — Midwest/gateway metros lead; supply-heavy Sun Belt still contracting

• Mayor Bibb: “America Needs a New Housing Playbook” (Justin Bibb, Jun 3) — the mayor frames Cleveland’s housing strategy as industrial policy, in his own words

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© 2026 The Clarendon Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclosure

Detroit ranks 78th in the 2025 Resonance World’s 100 Best Cities Report — ahead of several U.S. peer cities and recognized for its combination of affordability, cultural depth, and expanding economic horizons. The recognition reflects a transformation that has been building through deliberate strategy, not a single catalyst.

The Motor City’s downtown has been reimagined through adaptive reuse of historic buildings, mixed-use development, and investments in walkability and public space. Former office towers and industrial sites are now modern apartments, coworking spaces, and cultural destinations. Year-to-date rent growth in the Detroit Metro stands at 3.0%, outpacing the national average, with growth projected to reach 4.4% in 2025 as absorption strengthens, according to CoStar.

Two distinct stories are playing out in parallel: Downtown Detroit, where a significant concentration of new Class A inventory is working through absorption, and Midtown Detroit, where institutional anchors and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure are driving some of the city’s strongest multifamily fundamentals.

The Flagship Conversion

1265 Washington Boulevard — the Book Building and Tower, one of Detroit’s most iconic skyscrapers — anchors the downtown conversion story. Originally constructed in 1917 with a tower added in 1927, the building sat vacant for decades before Bedrock undertook a 317 million dollar historic restoration. The revitalized Book Tower now features 229 residential units, the ROOST Book Tower extended-stay hospitality concept, 85,000 square feet of retail and office space, two restaurants, a hotel lobby bar and lounge, and a rooftop event space. Construction was completed in 2023.

The broader downtown pipeline spans multiple decades of architecture and investment. At 7430 2nd Avenue in Midtown, the Albert Kahn Building — a 330,727 square foot Class four-star structure built in 1931 — was converted by The Platform into 206 residential units at a cost of 58 million dollars, completed in 2021. At 305 Michigan Avenue, Gabriel Houze offers 112 rental units in a 10-story 1940 building that formerly served as Archdiocese of Detroit headquarters, developed by Barbat Holdings for 17 million dollars, completed in 2020. At 321 West Lafayette Boulevard, the former Detroit Free Press building — a 12-story Art Deco landmark built in 1925 — was converted by Bedrock into 105 apartments with ground-floor retail and office space at a cost of 69 million dollars, completed in 2020.

Why Now

Detroit’s adaptive reuse momentum reflects a city that has made deliberate bets on its architectural heritage. Affordable acquisition costs for historic buildings, combined with targeted public-private partnerships and preservation incentives, have made conversions financially viable and structurally compelling.

Midtown has emerged as the city’s most promising multifamily hub, anchored by Wayne State University, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and Henry Ford Health. These institutions create sustained demand for housing and drive rental occupancy rates among the highest in the city. The ongoing development of the Woodward Avenue M-1 Light Rail enhances connectivity, linking Midtown to other key areas of the city and strengthening the neighborhood’s appeal to renters who prioritize mobility.

Ford’s Corktown Campus, bringing 5,000 jobs to a neighborhood adjacent to downtown, is expanding Detroit’s employment geography beyond its traditional corporate core. The broader economy is diversifying through Smart Zones that foster collaboration among universities, government, and private industry in mobility, life sciences, and urban technology. Manufacturing remains Detroit’s dominant sector with 253,000 jobs and a location quotient of 1.5, while construction and natural resources lead overall employment growth at 5.65%.

The Multifamily Metrics

Detroit Metro rent growth of 3.0% year-to-date outpaces the national average of 0.9%, with average market rents at 1,329 dollars per month, according to CoStar. Mid-tier three-star properties lead the metro at 3.2% growth with average rents of 1,405 dollars per month. One- and two-star affordable units post the strongest growth at 3.6%, averaging 1,072 dollars per month, driven by sustained demand for workforce housing. Four- and five-star luxury units show more modest growth at 1.4%, with average rents of 2,018 dollars per month, as elevated vacancy in recently delivered supply tempers performance.

Downtown Detroit’s rent picture is more nuanced, with overall year-to-date growth at negative 1.0% and average rents of 1,670 dollars per month. The four- and five-star segment saw a negative 2.0% decline, reflecting the challenge of absorbing a significant volume of new Class A inventory. Mid-tier units fared better at 0.2% growth. Downtown vacancy stands at 16.4%, the highest of any submarket profiled — though forecasts project a decline to 14.5% by 2026 as absorption catches up with supply.

Midtown Detroit tells a more stable story. Overall rent growth of 0.8% year-to-date reflects the submarket’s steady institutional demand base. Three-star properties posted 1.3% growth, and one- and two-star units grew by 1.4%. Midtown vacancy of 10.7% is meaningfully below Downtown’s rate, sustained by Wayne State University and the Detroit Medical Center driving consistent leasing activity.

Detroit Metro’s overall vacancy of 7.3% year-to-date remains below the national average of 8.1%, reflecting relative market stability despite supply-side pressure. Metro construction activity stands at just 1.04% of inventory — well below the national average of 3.23% — as developers exercise caution in response to elevated downtown vacancy. This moderated pipeline creates conditions for gradual stabilization as existing supply is absorbed.

Ready to go deeper on this market? Clarendon provides HUD Rent Comparability Studies, market studies, brokerage, and advisory services across major U.S. markets. To discuss your portfolio, visit clarendon.com/how-can-we-help

Explore the Conversion Projects

MarketRent™ tracks office-to-residential conversion projects across nine major U.S. cities. The interactive map includes individual property profiles with developer, unit count, construction status, and development cost for each project.

Explore the Interactive Conversion Map — Detroit and 8 Cities

Members can access the full interactive map at marketrent.us — search and filter projects across Detroit, Cleveland, New York, Boston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Los Angeles, and Cincinnati.

What’s in the Full Market Brief

The MarketRent™ Market Brief on Detroit covers the office-to-residential conversion projects reshaping Downtown and Midtown — with individual property profiles including developer, unit count, construction status, and development cost — alongside rent growth and vacancy rate analysis across the US, Detroit Metro, Downtown Detroit, and Midtown Detroit submarkets, new supply and absorption data, and a review of the economic drivers shaping the Detroit market, including the Midtown institutional anchor ecosystem and Ford’s Corktown expansion.

The full brief is available to MarketRent™ members at marketrent.us.

Access the Detroit Market Brief → www.marketrent.us

Related Resources

For more on office-to-residential conversion trends across U.S. markets, see NYC Financial District: A New Era for Downtown Manhattan, Pittsburgh: The Golden Triangle Converts, Cleveland: Urban Revival and the Adaptive Reuse Opportunity, and Mapping the Shift: Where Offices Are Becoming Homes.

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About: Clarendon is a trusted partner for government compliance and advisory solutions, specializing in HUD-compliant services: HUD RCS, appraisals, brokerage, inspections, facility support and strategic guidance for agencies, housing authorities and property owners nationwide.

© 2026 The Clarendon Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclosure

Los Angeles ranks 14th in the 2025 Resonance Best World Cities report, and the city is entering what its boosters are calling a Decade of Sport — hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Olympics and Paralympics, making it the first U.S. city to host the Summer Games three times. Major infrastructure investments and cultural commitments are accelerating alongside those events.

The multifamily investment landscape in Los Angeles, however, has undergone a genuine recalibration. Los Angeles County’s share of U.S. apartment investment has declined from 5.4% in the 2010s to 3.7% in the 2020s, according to MSCI Real Capital Analytics. New apartment construction accounted for only 1.1% of newly built units nationwide in 2024 — the lowest share in more than 25 years. A three-year COVID-era eviction ban, a 5.5% transfer tax on apartment sales, and more recently a wildfire-related county-wide eviction ban allowing renter self-certification have introduced layers of regulatory complexity not present in neighboring Orange County or San Diego.

Understanding this market now requires differentiating between submarkets. Downtown LA and South LA are operating under meaningfully different supply, demand, and rent dynamics — and both are evolving.

The Flagship Conversion

1055 West 7th Street — a 32-story, 961,271 square foot office tower built in 1987 — is planned for conversion into 686 residential units by Jamison Properties. The project will retain the building’s floor-to-ceiling windows and panoramic views while repurposing existing mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. Planned amenities include a fitness center, coworking space, theater, golf simulator, karaoke room, and card room. The conversion represents one of the largest adaptive reuse projects in DTLA’s current pipeline.

The broader Downtown conversion portfolio reflects decades of adaptive reuse activity. At 354 Spring Street, the former HWH building — a 143,902 square foot structure built in 1903 — was converted into 188 residential units by Neighborhood Effort, completed in 2020, restoring original stained glass domed skylights, marble corridors, and maple hardwood floors alongside 17,500 square feet of ground-floor retail. At 939 South Broadway, the historic Western Costume Building was converted into 939 Lofts, a 151-unit condominium development with rooftop amenities, completed in 2019. At 430 South Broadway, the 1906 Bumiller/Campbell Blake Building was converted into 58 live-work lofts as Broadway Lofts, completed in 2015.

Why Now

Downtown LA’s adaptive reuse history runs deep. The 1999 Adaptive Reuse Ordinance facilitated the conversion of historic office buildings into residential units, and between 1999 and 2008 these projects accounted for 87% of new residential inventory in the area. The recently approved Downtown Community Plan — known as DTLA 2040 — expands these opportunities by allowing conversions of buildings older than 25 years, broadening the potential housing supply and creating a policy framework for continued investment despite the broader regulatory environment.

Downtown currently comprises roughly 55,000 residential units with an additional 27,000 in the pipeline. Market-rate rentals and condos account for 38,000 of the existing units. Occupancy rates for established properties have consistently remained above 90%, indicating sustained underlying demand even as new supply faces lease-up headwinds.

South Los Angeles offers a different entry point. Since 2015, the submarket has transformed from an overlooked district into a recognized multifamily investment destination. The Metro K Line, partially opened in 2022, has reshaped development patterns, with transit-oriented incentives driving housing near key stations. USC’s 700 million dollar Village complex, completed in 2017, has strengthened its surrounding market. BMO Stadium has energized the Exposition Park district. The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, expected to open in 2026, will further enhance neighborhood desirability. South LA vacancy stands at 2.8% — among the tightest in the metro — with virtually no new construction activity, creating conditions of constrained supply that support continued rent performance.

The Multifamily Metrics

Los Angeles Metro year-to-date rent growth stands at 0.8%, reflecting the market’s complexity: outmigration, affordability constraints, and the lingering effects of pandemic-era rent collection challenges, according to CoStar. Average rents across the metro are 2,803 dollars per month in Downtown and considerably lower across broader submarkets. Mid-tier three-star properties lead metro growth at 1.1%, reaching 2,417 dollars per month. Four- and five-star luxury units posted 0.5% growth, averaging 3,318 dollars per month. One- and two-star affordable units grew by 1.0%, averaging 1,799 dollars per month.

In Downtown Los Angeles, market rents declined negative 0.5% year-to-date, with the four- and five-star segment also at negative 0.5% and mid-tier units at negative 1.0%. New supply continues to put downward pressure on rents as established inventory competes with newly delivered product.

South Los Angeles presents a starkly different performance profile, with overall rent growth of 2.3% year-to-date. Three-star properties led at 3.7% growth. One- and two-star affordable units grew 2.2%. The submarket’s affordability relative to the rest of Los Angeles continues to sustain consistent renter demand.

Metro LA vacancy of 4.8% year-to-date sits significantly below the national average of 8.1%, reflecting the structural supply constraints that define this market across most submarkets. Downtown LA vacancy stands at 10.6%, with four- and five-star units at 11.2%. South LA maintains 2.8% vacancy — one of the tightest multifamily submarkets in the country. Metro construction pipeline of 1.92% of inventory year-to-date is well below the national average of 3.23%, down from a 2.62% peak in 2023, as regulatory complexity and construction costs restrain new development.

Ready to go deeper on this market? Clarendon provides HUD Rent Comparability Studies, market studies, brokerage, and advisory services across major U.S. markets. To discuss your portfolio, visit clarendon.com/how-can-we-help

Explore the Conversion Projects

MarketRent™ tracks office-to-residential conversion projects across nine major U.S. cities. The interactive map includes individual property profiles with developer, unit count, construction status, and development cost for each project.

Explore the Interactive Conversion Map — Los Angeles and 8 Cities

Members can access the full interactive map at marketrent.us — search and filter projects across Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Cincinnati.

What’s in the Full Market Brief

The MarketRent™ Market Brief on Los Angeles covers the office-to-residential conversion projects shaping Downtown LA — with individual property profiles including developer, unit count, construction status, and development cost — alongside rent growth and vacancy rate analysis across the US, Los Angeles Metro, Downtown LA, and South Los Angeles submarkets, new supply and absorption data, and a review of the economic and regulatory drivers shaping the Los Angeles market, including DTLA 2040 and the South LA investment landscape.

The full brief is available to MarketRent™ members at marketrent.us.

Access the Los Angeles Market Brief → www.marketrent.us

Related Resources

For more on office-to-residential conversion trends across U.S. markets, see NYC Financial District: A New Era for Downtown Manhattan, Pittsburgh: The Golden Triangle Converts, Cleveland: Urban Revival and the Adaptive Reuse Opportunity, and Mapping the Shift: Where Offices Are Becoming Homes.

Share MarketRent™

Podcast • Tools • Services • Archive • About • Contact

About: Clarendon is a trusted partner for government compliance and advisory solutions, specializing in HUD-compliant services: HUD RCS, appraisals, brokerage, inspections, facility support and strategic guidance for agencies, housing authorities and property owners nationwide.

© 2026 The Clarendon Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclosure

Cleveland has been ranked among the world’s top cities — placing 70th globally, ahead of Hong Kong, Rio de Janeiro, and Athens. The recognition reflects a market transformation that has been years in the making, not a sudden pandemic-era pivot.

While other cities scrambled to address post-2020 office vacancy, Cleveland was already converting. Affordable acquisition costs for aging office buildings, a deep inventory of historic structures, and a sustained commitment to adaptive reuse have positioned Downtown Cleveland as one of the more active office-to-residential markets in the Midwest. Year-to-date rent growth in the Cleveland Metro stands at 2.9% — more than three times the national average of 0.9%, according to CoStar.

The transformation extends well beyond downtown’s conversion pipeline. A 330 million dollar infrastructure investment is unlocking development potential across long-neglected neighborhoods, connecting institutional anchors to the city’s residential core and creating conditions for durable, long-term multifamily performance.

The Flagship Conversion

50 Public Square — the Terminal Tower, a 1.1 million square foot landmark built in 1930 — anchors Cleveland’s adaptive reuse story. Purchased in 2016 for 38.5 million dollars, the building was converted by K&D Group into a mixed-use development comprising 297 one- and two-bedroom apartments alongside office space on the upper floors. Development cost: 80 million dollars. Construction was completed in 2019. The project preserved the tower’s architectural history while introducing modern residential amenities to one of Downtown’s most prominent addresses.

Terminal Tower is not an isolated project. The broader Downtown Cleveland conversion pipeline includes 200 Euclid Avenue — the former May Building, a 972,573 square foot structure converted by Bedrock into 307 apartments at a cost of 165 million dollars, completed in 2020. At 1965 East 6th Street, the Garfield Building was repositioned into 123 residential units, with its former banking hall transformed into the Marble Room restaurant, completed in 2017. At 75 Public Square, a 144,471 square foot building built in 1913 was converted into 114 apartments by Millenia Companies at a cost of 43 million dollars, completed in 2022.

Why Now

Cleveland’s adaptive reuse approach reflects strategic planning, not reactive repositioning. The city’s architectural inventory — pre-war office towers and industrial buildings with manageable floor plates and strong bones — is well-suited for residential conversion. Affordable acquisition costs have made the economics viable where they would not be in higher-cost coastal markets.

The Opportunity Corridor adds a second dimension to this market story. Completed in November 2021 at a cost of 330 million dollars, the 3.2-mile roadway links University Circle with Interstate 490, running through the Fairfax, Kinsman, and Slavic Village neighborhoods. The corridor was designed as an urban boulevard rather than a limited-access highway, preserving all cross-street connections and integrating pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. The result is a catalyst for mixed-income housing and commercial development in neighborhoods that had been largely bypassed by prior investment cycles.

The Sherwin-Williams headquarters expansion — a 600 million dollar project adding a 1 million square foot headquarters and research facility to Downtown Cleveland — is expected to generate 8.6 million dollars in annual tax revenue and retain 3,500 jobs. Healthcare continues to anchor the broader economy: employment in education and health services is growing at 2.88%, outpacing the national average, driven by Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals. The Health-Tech Corridor links Downtown to University Circle across a 1,600-acre zone that houses more than 170 health-tech companies, incubators, and academic institutions.

The Multifamily Metrics

Cleveland Metro rent growth of 2.9% year-to-date outpaces the national average of 0.9% by a substantial margin, with growth projected to accelerate to 5.1% as new supply tapers and demand stabilizes, according to CoStar. Average rents in the metro stand at 1,216 dollars per month, with meaningful differentiation across building classes.

Mid-tier three-star properties lead performance in the Cleveland Metro, posting 3.1% rent growth year-to-date with average rents of 1,244 dollars per month. One- and two-star affordable units follow closely at 3.5% growth, averaging 892 dollars per month — reflecting persistent demand for workforce housing. Four- and five-star luxury units show more moderate growth at 1.7%, with average rents of 1,868 dollars per month, as elevated vacancy in newly delivered luxury stock tempers performance.

In Downtown Cleveland specifically, rent growth is more restrained at 0.9% year-to-date, with average rents of 1,688 dollars per month. The four- and five-star segment maintains a 34% premium over three-star properties but faces vacancy headwinds from new luxury deliveries. Downtown vacancy stands at 14.5% year-to-date — elevated but consistent with a market absorbing a significant conversion pipeline, with luxury vacancy at 16.0%, three-star at 12.3%, and one- and two-star at 10.8%.

The East Cleveland submarket, which encompasses the Opportunity Corridor, posts 2.8% rent growth — mirroring broader metro trends — with vacancy at 13%. Affordable and mid-tier properties perform more steadily in this submarket, driven by sustained demand for lower-cost housing options. Cleveland Metro’s overall vacancy rate of 8.2% modestly exceeds the national average of 7.9%, reflecting the region’s ongoing absorption of new supply rather than fundamental demand weakness.

Cleveland’s construction pipeline has moderated to 2.2% of total inventory year-to-date, down from 2.64% in 2022 — below the national average of 3.51%. Downtown remains the most active submarket at 6.1% of inventory under construction, though well below the 15% peak of 2018. The easing pipeline creates conditions for improved absorption and rent performance as the current supply cycle matures.

Ready to go deeper on this market? Clarendon provides HUD Rent Comparability Studies, market studies, brokerage, and advisory services across major U.S. markets. To discuss your portfolio, visit clarendon.com/how-can-we-help

Explore the Conversion Projects

MarketRent™ tracks office-to-residential conversion projects across nine major U.S. cities. The interactive map includes individual property profiles with developer, unit count, construction status, and development cost for each project.

Explore the Interactive Conversion Map — Cleveland and 8 Cities

Members can access the full interactive map at marketrent.us — search and filter projects across Cleveland, New York, Boston, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Los Angeles, and Cincinnati.

What’s in the Full Market Brief

The MarketRent™ Market Brief on Cleveland covers the office-to-residential conversion projects reshaping Downtown — with individual property profiles including developer, unit count, construction status, and development cost — alongside rent growth and vacancy rate analysis across the U.S., Cleveland Metro, Downtown Cleveland, and East Cleveland submarkets, new supply and absorption data, and a review of the economic drivers shaping the Cleveland market, including the Opportunity Corridor and major employer anchors.

The full brief is available to MarketRent™ members at marketrent.us.

Access the Cleveland Market Brief → www.marketrent.us

Related Resources

For more on office-to-residential conversion trends across U.S. markets, see NYC Financial District: A New Era for Downtown Manhattan, Pittsburgh: The Golden Triangle Converts, Cleveland: Urban Revival and the Adaptive Reuse Opportunity, and Mapping the Shift: Where Offices Are Becoming Homes.

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© 2026 The Clarendon Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclosure

Cincinnati has quietly become one of the more active office-to-residential conversion markets in the Midwest. While post-pandemic adaptive reuse has become a national narrative, Cincinnati’s approach is rooted in something more durable: a deep inventory of historic architecture, a set of state-level financial incentive programs that make conversions financially viable, and a downtown that is drawing young professionals and empty-nesters in search of urban living options at a meaningful affordability discount to coastal markets.

Year-to-date rent growth in the Cincinnati Metro stands at 2.6% — nearly three times the national average of 0.9% — with growth projected to reach 5.3% by 2025 as construction moderates and demand stabilizes, according to CoStar. Average metro rents of 1,272 dollars per month position Cincinnati as one of the more accessible urban multifamily markets among the nine cities in this series.

The conversion pipeline is deepening. From landmark Beaux Arts towers to former corporate headquarters, Downtown Cincinnati’s building stock is being repositioned into modern, mixed-use residential communities that preserve historic character while meeting contemporary housing demand.

The Flagship Conversion

309 Vine Street — a 325,200 square foot Beaux Arts building constructed in 1927 — has been transformed into a mixed-use development featuring 294 luxury apartments, including micro-apartments and penthouses, alongside a ground-floor market, a rooftop restaurant, Class A office space, and a 330-car garage. Developed by The Union Central Life Insurance Company at a cost of 75 million dollars, the project was completed in 2018 and introduced a range of urban living formats not previously available in the Greater Cincinnati market.

The pipeline extends well beyond this anchor project. At 205 West Fourth Street, the former Textile Building — a 215,000 square foot 12-story office structure built in 1906 — was converted by Bernstein Companies into 282 market-rate apartments at a cost of 70 million dollars, completed in 2023, with rooftop lounge, coworking spaces, a gym, and pickleball and golf simulators. At 580 Walnut Street, the 290,000 square foot AT580 building was repositioned by Birkla Investment Group into 179 residential units including two-story penthouse suites with private elevators, completed in 2017 for 40 million dollars. At 7 West 7th Street, the former Macy’s corporate headquarters is being converted into 341 residential units across 14 floors by Victrix LLC, with completion expected by end of 2025 for 73 million dollars.

Why Now

Ohio’s financial incentive framework has been essential to Cincinnati’s conversion activity. The Ohio State Historic Preservation Tax Credit program, the Transformational Mixed-Use Development program, and the Ohio Brownfield Remediation Program have collectively enabled projects that would otherwise face prohibitive financial gaps. By providing tax credits, remediation funds, and structural improvement incentives, these programs have unlocked buildings that sat underutilized for years and transformed them into contributors to the city’s residential base.

Cincinnati’s employment market provides the demand foundation for this supply. Employment grew 3.3% year-over-year as of mid-2023, outpacing the national average of 2.2%. Leisure and hospitality added 16,000 jobs — a 12% increase — driven by strong tourism. Manufacturing accounts for 10.4% of employment with notable aerospace sector gains. The unemployment rate of 4.0% reflects a broadly healthy labor market, and sustained hiring across healthcare and manufacturing supports multifamily demand particularly in the downtown core, where the conversion pipeline is creating new inventory for renters seeking urban living with access to amenities and jobs.

The Multifamily Metrics

Cincinnati Metro rent growth of 2.6% year-to-date leads the national average of 0.9% by a substantial margin, according to CoStar. One- and two-star affordable units post the strongest growth at 3.2%, averaging 924 dollars per month. Three-star mid-tier properties follow at 3.0% growth with average rents of 1,294 dollars per month — highly sought after for their balance of quality and affordability. Four- and five-star luxury units recorded 1.5% growth at 1,762 dollars per month, with ongoing pressure from vacancy in recently delivered product.

In Downtown Cincinnati, rent growth reached 2.1% year-to-date, slightly below the metro average but meaningfully above national benchmarks. Four- and five-star effective rents stand at 1,906 dollars per month, with 1.1% growth. Three-star units recorded 2.4% growth at 1,293 dollars per month. One- and two-star units led downtown rent growth at 3.6%, averaging 934 dollars per month — reflecting persistent demand for affordable downtown options.

Cincinnati Metro vacancy of 6.9% sits below the national average of 7.9%, reflecting the region’s relative market stability and noncyclical employment base. Four- and five-star vacancy stands at 8.5%, with steady new deliveries contributing to elevated rates in the luxury segment. Three-star vacancy of 6.8% and one- and two-star vacancy of 6.2% reflect more balanced supply-demand dynamics across these segments. Downtown vacancy of 9.6% reflects elevated deliveries including projects like the Artistry Cincy and the Textile Building conversion, and is projected to rise modestly to 10.4% by 2025 before stabilizing as the supply cycle matures.

Cincinnati Metro construction activity of 4.43% of inventory slightly exceeds the national average of 3.51%, with 3,388 units completed year-to-date — a 15% decline from 2023. Downtown mirrors the metro at 4.58% of inventory under construction, with activity concentrated in luxury and mixed-use projects. The moderating pace of deliveries positions the market for improved absorption as the pipeline normalizes.

Ready to go deeper on this market? Clarendon provides HUD Rent Comparability Studies, market studies, brokerage, and advisory services across major U.S. markets. To discuss your portfolio, visit clarendon.com/how-can-we-help

Explore the Conversion Projects

MarketRent™ tracks office-to-residential conversion projects across nine major U.S. cities. The interactive map includes individual property profiles with developer, unit count, construction status, and development cost for each project.

Explore the Interactive Conversion Map — Cincinnati and 8 Cities

Members can access the full interactive map at marketrent.us — search and filter projects across Cincinnati, Cleveland, New York, Boston, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington DC, and Los Angeles.

What’s in the Full Market Brief

The MarketRent™ Market Brief on Cincinnati covers the office-to-residential conversion projects reshaping Downtown — with individual property profiles including developer, unit count, construction status, and development cost — alongside rent growth and vacancy rate analysis across the US, Cincinnati Metro, and Downtown Cincinnati submarket, new supply and absorption data, and a review of the economic drivers shaping the Cincinnati market, including Ohio’s financial incentive programs and the city’s employment base.

The full brief is available to MarketRent™ members at marketrent.us.

Access the Cincinnati Market Brief → www.marketrent.us

Related Resources

For more on office-to-residential conversion trends across U.S. markets, see NYC Financial District: A New Era for Downtown Manhattan, Pittsburgh: The Golden Triangle Converts, Cleveland: Urban Revival and the Adaptive Reuse Opportunity, and Mapping the Shift: Where Offices Are Becoming Homes.

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About: Clarendon is a trusted partner for government compliance and advisory solutions, specializing in HUD-compliant services: HUD RCS, appraisals, brokerage, inspections, facility support and strategic guidance for agencies, housing authorities and property owners nationwide.

© 2026 The Clarendon Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclosure

Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle — the office core at the confluence of the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers — faced some of the most acute post-pandemic office vacancy pressure of any major U.S. downtown. What followed has been a deliberate, policy-supported conversion effort that is reshaping the submarket’s residential base and repositioning Downtown Pittsburgh as a live-work neighborhood.

Year-to-date rent growth in the Pittsburgh Metro stands at 2.4%, recovering from a 1.0% decline in 2023 and surpassing the national average of 0.9%, with growth projected to reach 4.6% by 2025, according to CoStar. Downtown Pittsburgh’s vacancy rate of 8.7% marks a meaningful improvement from 10.6% in late 2023, and the submarket is projected to stabilize below 7.3% by 2025 as conversion completions add absorbed residential inventory.

Pittsburgh’s adaptive reuse story is one of structured, program-driven transformation — with affordability embedded as a design principle, not an afterthought.

The Flagship Conversion

300 Sixth Avenue — the former GNC headquarters, a 239,907 square foot Daniel Burnham-designed building in Downtown Pittsburgh — is being converted by Victrix LLC into 253 residential units with 13,000 square feet of retail, 34 indoor parking spaces, and rooftop amenities. Known as the Livewell in Market Square project, it is the largest active conversion in Downtown’s current pipeline, with significant interior demolition and framing already completed. This project demonstrates the scale of adaptive reuse possible in buildings that defined downtown’s commercial era.

The completed conversion pipeline demonstrates sustained momentum. At 425 Sixth Avenue, the Alcoa Building — a 160,420 square foot structure built in 1953 as the first skyscraper with an all-aluminum exterior — was converted by PMC Property Group into 262 luxury apartments on the upper floors with office space below and street-level retail, completed in 2016. At 711-713 Penn Avenue, two historic buildings — the McNally and the Bonn — were transformed by Trek Development Group into a combined 140-unit apartment building with restored facades, 11,000 square feet of retail, and below-grade parking, completed in 2020. At 441 Smithfield Street, a 227,884 square foot 1917 building is planned for 165 residential units at a cost of 68 million dollars by Stark Enterprises, with 10% designated as affordable housing.

Why Now

The Pittsburgh Downtown Conversion Program, launched in 2022, has been the structural catalyst for the Golden Triangle’s transformation. The program targets Class B and C office buildings and offers tax abatements and American Rescue Plan Act funding to help developers bridge the financial gaps associated with retrofitting older buildings. Critically, it requires that at least 20% of units in participating projects be designated as affordable housing — embedding inclusivity into the economic model rather than treating it as a regulatory obligation.

Pittsburgh’s institutional economy provides the demand foundation. Healthcare and education account for 21.9% of local employment, anchored by UPMC and the University of Pittsburgh. Greater Downtown Pittsburgh hosts 116,070 jobs, with professional and business services dominating employment at 48% and 70% of residents earning 50,000 dollars or more annually. The Shell ethane cracker plant in Beaver County is expected to diversify the economic base, supporting job growth in plastics and related industries. Downtown apartment inventory has grown 32% over the past five years — far exceeding the metro’s 7% growth — reflecting sustained developer confidence in the submarket’s long-term trajectory.

The Multifamily Metrics

Pittsburgh Metro rent growth of 2.4% year-to-date represents a meaningful recovery, with average market rents at 1,345 dollars per month, according to CoStar. Three-star mid-tier properties lead metro performance at 3.1% growth with average rents of 1,318 dollars per month, balancing affordability and quality in a market where workforce housing remains the strongest demand driver. Four- and five-star luxury units posted 1.7% growth at 1,869 dollars per month. One- and two-star affordable units grew 2.0%, achieving rents of 990 dollars per month.

Downtown Pittsburgh’s rent performance outpaced the metro at 1.7% year-to-date, with average rents of 1,880 dollars per month — reflecting the premium commanded by Downtown’s walkable, amenity-rich positioning. Four- and five-star units recorded 1.9% growth at 1,899 dollars per month. Three-star units grew 0.9% to 1,563 dollars per month. One- and two-star properties led downtown rent growth at 2.6%, offering an accessible entry point at 1,408 dollars per month.

Pittsburgh Metro vacancy of 5.5% year-to-date represents a significant improvement from 6.2% in 2023 and outperforms the national average of 7.9%. This improvement reflects balanced market conditions: reduced new deliveries and consistent absorption working together to tighten fundamentals. Vacancy is projected to drop further to 5.2% by 2025. Four- and five-star vacancy of 7.5% reflects earlier oversupply; three-star vacancy of 5.2% and one- and two-star vacancy of 4.8% reflect the strength of workforce and affordable housing demand.

Metro construction activity stands at 2.78% of inventory — near the national average of 3.51% but concentrated in targeted submarkets. Downtown has approximately 740 units under construction at 6.1% of inventory, driven by the Livewell project and additional conversion activity. Deliveries across the metro are at a 42% annual decline compared to the prior year, helping maintain market equilibrium and support declining vacancy rates.

Ready to go deeper on this market? Clarendon provides HUD Rent Comparability Studies, market studies, brokerage, and advisory services across major U.S. markets. To discuss your portfolio, visit clarendon.com/how-can-we-help

Explore the Conversion Projects

MarketRent™ tracks office-to-residential conversion projects across nine major U.S. cities. The interactive map includes individual property profiles with developer, unit count, construction status, and development cost for each project.

Explore the Interactive Conversion Map — Pittsburgh and 8 Cities

Members can access the full interactive map at marketrent.us — search and filter projects across Pittsburgh, Cleveland, New York, Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Los Angeles, and Cincinnati.

What’s in the Full Market Brief

The MarketRent™ Market Brief on Pittsburgh covers the office-to-residential conversion projects reshaping the Golden Triangle — with individual property profiles including developer, unit count, construction status, and development cost — alongside rent growth and vacancy rate analysis across the US, Pittsburgh Metro, and Downtown Pittsburgh submarket, new supply and absorption data, and a review of the economic drivers shaping the Pittsburgh market, including the Pittsburgh Downtown Conversion Program and the city’s institutional employment anchors.

The full brief is available to MarketRent™ members at marketrent.us.

Access the Pittsburgh Market Brief → www.marketrent.us

Related Resources

For more on office-to-residential conversion trends across U.S. markets, see NYC Financial District: A New Era for Downtown Manhattan, Pittsburgh: The Golden Triangle Converts, Cleveland: Urban Revival and the Adaptive Reuse Opportunity, and Mapping the Shift: Where Offices Are Becoming Homes.

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About: Clarendon is a trusted partner for government compliance and advisory solutions, specializing in HUD-compliant services: HUD RCS, appraisals, brokerage, inspections, facility support and strategic guidance for agencies, housing authorities and property owners nationwide.

© 2026 The Clarendon Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclosure

Washington D.C. is executing one of the most policy-driven office-to-residential conversion programs in the country. The District’s Housing in Downtown initiative — targeting 15,000 new residents in the downtown area by 2028 — offers 20-year property tax abatements, regulatory exemptions, and affordable housing requirements that collectively make otherwise financially marginal conversions viable. The program reflects a recognition that Downtown D.C.’s office market faces a structural, not cyclical, vacancy challenge, and that diversifying the submarket’s use base is the most durable path to long-term stability.

Year-to-date rent growth in the Washington D.C. Metro stands at 2.8% — more than three times the national average of 0.9% — sustained by population growth and a stable, diversified employment base, according to CoStar. Metro vacancy of 6.9% sits below the national average of 7.9%, with absorption closely matching new deliveries and creating conditions for continued stabilization.

D.C.’s conversion story is one of a city with institutional depth — federal government, technology, healthcare, professional services — leveraging that foundation to repurpose its most underutilized asset: a downtown office market that was losing ground before the pandemic and has not recovered at the pace seen in other major metros.

The Flagship Conversion

1425 New York Avenue NW — a 13-story, 287,042 square foot structure near the White House — is being converted by Foulger-Pratt Companies into Accolade, a 255-unit Class A-plus luxury residential property. Upon completion, it will be the nearest residential building to the White House. The project exemplifies the ambition of the Housing in Downtown program: repositioning prime commercial real estate at the geographic core of the district into high-quality residential inventory.

The completed and active pipeline spans a range of scales and approaches. At 1111 20th Street, the former Peace Corps building — a 186,012 square foot structure built in 1963 — was converted by Willco into 163 market-rate apartments with a rooftop pool, fitness center, coworking areas, and a dog park, completed in 2024. At 1625 Massachusetts Avenue NW, a 119,000 square foot former Air Line Pilots Association headquarters at Scott Circle is being converted by National Real Estate Development into 157 residential units at a cost of 65 million dollars, prioritizing structural retention for sustainability. At 2501 M Street NW, a 100,000 square foot former Association of American Medical Colleges headquarters in the West End was converted by PRP Real Estate into 60 luxury condominiums with an 11,475 square foot Nobu restaurant on the ground floor, completed in 2018. At 1201 L Street NW, a 36,000 square foot building is planned for expansion to 133,000 square feet and conversion into 145 affordable units for residents earning 30% to 80% of area median income, with 99-year affordability preservation, expected completion in 2026.

Why Now

D.C.’s office market vacancy challenge predates the pandemic. Remote and hybrid work accelerated what was already a structural shift — and the relocation of 2,500 FBI jobs to Maryland has added a more recent headwind to downtown office demand. The Housing in Downtown program addresses this directly: by making residential conversion financially feasible and requiring affordable units, the program creates a pathway to a more resilient, mixed-use downtown core.

The broader D.C. Metro economy provides the demand foundation. The region added 34,000 jobs over the past year — a 1.0% annual growth rate — with gains concentrated in technology, healthcare, and professional services. The unemployment rate of 2.8% is significantly below the national average of 3.9%, reflecting the region’s structurally strong labor market. Federal government employment remains a stabilizing anchor. Office-using employment grew by just 0.4% year-to-date, consistent with hybrid work patterns, but this modest growth still represents net positive demand against a tight housing market.

The Multifamily Metrics

Washington D.C. Metro rent growth of 2.8% year-to-date reflects steady demand across all building classes, according to CoStar. Three-star mid-tier properties outperformed the market at 3.2% growth with average rents of 1,952 dollars per month, reflecting strong interest from renters seeking quality without top-tier pricing. Four- and five-star luxury units posted 2.4% growth with average rents of 2,636 dollars per month and vacancy of 8.3%, where new supply has sustained elevated rates but demand remains steady. One- and two-star affordable units grew 2.0% to average rents of 1,630 dollars per month, supported by consistent demand for cost-effective options in a high-cost metro.

In Downtown D.C. specifically, rent growth of 1.7% year-to-date reflects the competitive conditions created by elevated vacancy and ongoing conversion deliveries. Four- and five-star properties posted 2.2% growth. Three-star units grew 0.8%. One- and two-star units grew 1.8%. Downtown vacancy of 7.7% is led by luxury units at 9.3%, with mid-tier properties at 5.2% performing considerably more steadily. The Housing in Downtown program projects Downtown vacancy to reach 6.4% by 2025 as leasing momentum builds and conversion completions add absorbed inventory.

D.C. Metro construction activity of 4.1% of inventory — approximately 23,500 units under construction — exceeds the national average of 3.51%, reflecting the metro’s sustained developer confidence despite broader market caution. Construction has slowed 35% year-over-year as financing conditions have tightened, which is helping to moderate the pace of new deliveries and support absorption. In Downtown, 3.1% of inventory is under construction, with activity primarily driven by office-to-residential conversions including 1625 Massachusetts Avenue and The Geneva at 600 units, all benefiting from the Housing in Downtown tax abatement program.

Ready to go deeper on this market? Clarendon provides HUD Rent Comparability Studies, market studies, brokerage, and advisory services across major U.S. markets. To discuss your portfolio, visit clarendon.com/how-can-we-help

Explore the Conversion Projects

MarketRent™ tracks office-to-residential conversion projects across nine major U.S. cities. The interactive map includes individual property profiles with developer, unit count, construction status, and development cost for each project.

Explore the Interactive Conversion Map — Washington DC and 8 Cities

Members can access the full interactive map at marketrent.us — search and filter projects across Washington DC, New York, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Cincinnati.

What’s in the Full Market Brief

The MarketRent™ Market Brief on Washington DC covers the office-to-residential conversion projects reshaping Downtown D.C. — with individual property profiles including developer, unit count, construction status, and development cost — alongside rent growth and vacancy rate analysis across the US, Washington D.C. Metro, and Downtown D.C. submarket, new supply and absorption data, and a review of the economic drivers shaping the D.C. market, including the Housing in Downtown program and the metro’s diversified employment base.

The full brief is available to MarketRent™ members at marketrent.us.

Access the Washington DC Market Brief → www.marketrent.us

Related Resources

For more on office-to-residential conversion trends across U.S. markets, see NYC Financial District: A New Era for Downtown Manhattan, Pittsburgh: The Golden Triangle Converts, Cleveland: Urban Revival and the Adaptive Reuse Opportunity, and Mapping the Shift: Where Offices Are Becoming Homes.

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About: Clarendon is a trusted partner for government compliance and advisory solutions, specializing in HUD-compliant services: HUD RCS, appraisals, brokerage, inspections, facility support and strategic guidance for agencies, housing authorities and property owners nationwide.

© 2026 The Clarendon Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclosure

Manhattan’s Financial District has been converting office space to residential use since the 1990s. What’s underway now is different in scale and urgency.

Office availability across Manhattan reached 18.2% before declining to 17% — the largest single-quarter reduction in available space on record, according to CoStar. The mechanism driving that reduction isn’t tenant demand for offices. It’s residential conversion.

As tenant demand gravitates toward the highest-quality buildings, a substantial volume of vintage Manhattan office space is lying vacant. Sixty-four buildings had expressed interest in converting to residential use. FiDi alone has converted more than 22 million square feet since 1995 — and the current pipeline dwarfs everything that came before it.

The Flagship Project

25 Water Street — a 1.1 million square foot, 22-story tower built in 1968 — is converting to 1,300 residential units. It will be the largest office-to-residential conversion in U.S. history. Development cost: $540 million. Developers: GFP Real Estate, Metro Loft Management, and Rockwood Capital. Amenities will include pools, a basketball court, a sky lounge, and coworking spaces.

This is not an isolated transaction. Other active conversions in FiDi include 55 Broad Street, a 30-story 1967 tower converting to 571 units at a cost of $220 million, developed by Metro Loft and Silverstein Properties. At 85 Broad Street, 300,000 square feet is being repositioned for 600 new apartments.

Why Now

New York has done this before. The 421-g tax incentive program in the 1990s drove the first major conversion wave in lower Manhattan — significant property tax exemptions to developers, reduced vacancy rates, increased housing supply. The city is drawing on that playbook again: easing regulatory burdens, expanding conversion eligibility, and targeting vintage office stock that no longer competes for Class A tenants.

Pre-war buildings with smaller floor plates are ideal candidates. Their adaptable layouts support residential conversion in ways that large-plate modern towers do not. As these buildings are repositioned, FiDi is evolving into a more vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood — a transformation with implications for the entire submarket’s multifamily performance.

The Multifamily Metrics

New York Metro’s multifamily market continues to outperform most of the U.S., sustained by high demand and a structurally tight housing supply. Rent growth across all building classes came in at 1.9% year-to-date — more than double the national average of 0.9%, according to CoStar.

Within FiDi specifically, all building classes posted 3.2% rent growth year-to-date, with the average rent for all classes at $5,547 per month. The mid-tier three-star segment recorded the highest growth at 5.1%, with an average rent of $4,719 per month — consistent with the broader New York Metro pattern where mid-tier properties are outperforming luxury.

Vacancy in the New York Metro stands at 2.8% — among the tightest multifamily markets in the country, against a national average of 7.9%. FiDi’s vacancy rate of 3.5% reflects the incoming conversion supply: 25 Water Street alone is projected to push FiDi vacancy to 9.3% before demand absorption brings it back to 5.5% as supply is absorbed.

The supply picture is different in adjacent submarkets — Tribeca, SoHo, and Hudson Square — creating meaningful near-term differentiation in rent growth expectations across lower Manhattan.

Ready to go deeper on this market? Clarendon provides HUD Rent Comparability Studies, market studies, brokerage, and advisory services across major U.S. markets. To discuss your portfolio, visit clarendon.com/how-can-we-help

Explore the Conversion Projects

MarketRent™ tracks office-to-residential conversion projects across nine major U.S. cities. The interactive map includes individual property profiles with developer, unit count, construction status, and development cost for each project.

Explore the Interactive Conversion Map — New York and 8 Cities

Members can access the full interactive map at marketrent.us — search and filter projects across New York, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Los Angeles, and Cincinnati.

What’s in the Full Market Brief

The MarketRent™ Market Brief on New York Financial District covers the office-to-residential conversion projects reshaping lower Manhattan — with individual property profiles including developer, unit count, construction status, and development cost — alongside rent growth and vacancy rate analysis across US, New York Metro, and Financial District submarkets, new supply and absorption data, and a review of the economic drivers shaping the New York Metro market.

The full brief is available to MarketRent™ members at marketrent.us.

Access the NYC Financial District Market Brief → www.marketrent.us

Related Resources

For more on office-to-residential conversion trends across U.S. markets, see NYC Financial District: A New Era for Downtown Manhattan, Pittsburgh: The Golden Triangle Converts, Cleveland: Urban Revival and the Adaptive Reuse Opportunity, and Mapping the Shift: Where Offices Are Becoming Homes.

Share MarketRent™

Podcast • Tools • Services • Archive • About • Contact

About: Clarendon is a trusted partner for government compliance and advisory solutions, specializing in HUD-compliant services: HUD RCS, appraisals, brokerage, inspections, facility support and strategic guidance for agencies, housing authorities and property owners nationwide.

© 2026 The Clarendon Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclosure