Success Factors & Bottlenecks in the Transformation of Vacant Office Buildings into Student Housing

Abstract

The Dutch office market has a big vacancy problem with a high vacancy rate.
Also can be noticed an increasing shortage for student housing in university cities. Transformation of vacant office buildings into student housing could be a potential sustainable solution to partially solve both problems. This research project provides an overview of all relevant aspects needed for the decision process, especially in the initiative phase of these transformation projects. The aspects related to transformation into student housing are clustered in five main
themes as a success factor or as a possible bottleneck. Success factors and bottlenecks that affect this type of transformation have been researched through an extensive literature survey, expert interviews and three in-depth case studies. The results of this research have led to a useful tool that assists project developers in the initiative phase to consider the transformation potential
of a specific project. The outcome also allows developers to discuss relevant aspects and visually convinces other actors involved in this complex process.