Boardrooms To Bedrooms: Will Big Tech Companies Convert Empty Offices Into Employee Housing?

Despite a recent push by corporations to get employees back to the office, at least part-time, it doesn’t look like work-from-home is going anywhere. The ability for employees to work remotely has crushed demand for commercial real estate, leaving large office buildings in cities like San Francisco largely vacant.

Jason Calcanis, the multimillionaire tech investor, now suggests that Apple Inc AAPL, Meta Platforms Inc META, Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL convert their vacant office buildings into residential housing. Calcanis posted this idea to X.com, explaining that the companies could also benefit from a rebound in the real estate market.

“If they can convert them to housing for their employees that’s a huge win,” Calcanis said. “If the market comes back they make a profit.”

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Empty Space: According to a recent report, more than 30% of downtown San Francisco's office space is empty. The city's mayor, London Breed, says that converting some of the vacant office space could help solve the city’s housing shortage, and revitalize the downtown area, which has struggled since the pandemic. 
Meanwhile, Apple, Google and Meta are sitting on billions in cash, waiting to be invested, Calcanis suggested. 

Work From Where?: Amazon Inc AMZN recently began asking employees to work in person more, and will even start punishing employees who don’t show up enough. Google also told employees to return to the office over the summer. If the companies continue to require workers to return to the office, it could throw a wrench in the plan to convert offices into housing.

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