You may think I’m just hypothesizing for the sake of clicks and conversation, but this is straight out of the Decatur 2010 Strategic Plan Appendix B (page 33)…

A critical component in attracting new office uses is to ensure that existing office is successful and sustainable. Many of Decatur’s office buildings are old, and becoming obsolete. One way to deal with this is pruning, which basically means that having a whole lot of noncompetitive or low-quality space is actually worse than having less space, but of higher quality. Removing some of the older and less viable office buildings from the market could incent more competition. One way to handle this would be converting them to residential, which could shore up office rental rates, and possibly encourage new office construction in the City. The resulting residential units could provide a more affordable housing product, if the office buildings sell at low enough price points.  The “retro loft” architecture could also serve to broaden the residential market.

An interesting idea, but it seems predicated on the notion that residents – and not businesses – have a lower threshold for “old and obsolete” than businesses looking for a new space.  I suppose that could be true if the price point was attractive enough to the residential buyer.

I dunno.  Interesting food for thought.