There are growing calls to transform empty older office buildings in city centres into apartment buildings to help alleviate Australia’s rental crisis and broader housing challenges. Fresh research — conducted by Hassell for the Property Council of Australia — has identified 86 office buildings in Melbourne’s CBD that could be repurposed into housing, potentially delivering up to 12,000 new homes. Hassell principal architect Ingrid Bakker, who led the research, said the potential solution to reactivate the city offered a sustainable perspective for the future. “There’s a bit of a radical rethink that needs to happen around looking at these buildings that obviously aren’t performing very well because a lot of them are empty,” Ms Bakker said. Read the article in RealEstate.com.au