Vacant commercial spaces in shopping centres have potential as sites for affordable housing.
These are not easy times for big box store realtors. Some of the biggest users of box store space are switching to Amazon and other buy-from-your living-room internet retailers.
The result: growing numbers of vacant box stores sitting empty and idle, their owners stuck for mortgages, taxes, utility fees etc.
Similar problems plague some downtown commercial areas, such as the heart of Washington D.C. where commercial buildings have been abandoned for newer, more convenient buildings in business parks on the periphery of the city.
What kind of potential do these commercial spaces offer for affordable housing? Read more in Reuters: Vacant offices plus housing crunch: U.S. cities try to solve a riddle
