Empty Schools Spark New Wave of Apartment Conversions

The Wall Street Journal, July 8, 2026-Craig Karmin

Would you live in the classroom where you once studied math or history? Developers are converting dozens of vacant public schools into rent-regulated housing, often for seniors. These conversions benefit from the spacious interiors of old school buildings and the tax credits afforded developers who preserve or rehabilitate historically significant properties. “I remember walking the halls, up the stairwells,” said Michele Cloutier, who now lives in the building that once was her middle school. Nicholas G. Miller explains how these increasingly popular conversions work.

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