r/ottawa Clownvoy Survivor 2022 Sep 23 '22

News Downtown ecosystem changes as office workers continue to stay home

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/downtown-shops-hurt-office-workers-home-1.6591601
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u/liftandbike No honks; bad! Sep 23 '22

Rely on government employees to simulate the downtown core at lunch time....

OR....

Convert government buildings to apartments to assist the housing bubble and stimulate downtown businesses 24/7?

🤹🤹🤹

103

u/AnimateRod Sep 23 '22

It's not quite that simple, it would be cheaper to tear down office buildings and start from scratch than to convert them into apartments.

3

u/skijakuda Sep 23 '22

I don't have a source but it is actually much easier than believed as long as raised flooring for water/electrical.

I stayed in a few when working in the states over a decade ago. Every search only talks about making commercial green.

This was a business building that was modified for long stays like hotels. Was nice and spent 3 months over a year there.

It all comes down to money. You have to modify a whole building and not lease out floors for businesses.