- 1). Convert the property into a boutique hotel. Hotels that once drew most of their business from convention groups can be converted into high-end hotels to attract tourists. Hotel repurposing projects like this play up the unexpected contrast of exterior drabness with interior luxury, and architects can incorporate the building's unique historical attributes with fresh, modern elements. Renovated boutique hotels are an especially popular trend in cities with run-down industrial areas needing revitalization. Because the original space is a hotel, securing permits to convert it into a new hotel will be fairly simple.
- 2). Convert the property into office space. Convention hotels are often located in commercial zones, which makes securing permits to repurpose them into office buildings fairly simple. The large, open convention floor spaces can be easily subdivided into separate office spaces or they can house cubicles, and hotel rooms can be stripped and converted into private offices.
- 3). Convert the property into a modern museum. Postmodern art and architecture appreciate the utilitarian, industrial structure most convention hotels offer, so they'd be ideal spaces to house modern art galleries. Because the exhibitions themselves will be the visual draw, little needs to be done to the actual interior convention space. The Warehouse Art Gallery in Dubuque, Iowa, and the Tate Modern in London, England are examples of how austere, industrial buildings can be repurposed into modern art museums.
- 4). Convert the property into residential space. New York's meatpacking district is a prime example of former industrial space converted into chic-yet-quirky living space. Because hotels are already outfitted with proper plumbing for bathrooms and electrical wiring for high-draw domestic appliances like washer/dryers, this conversion should be fairly simple. In order to utilize this option, however, most local or city governments require an area to be rezoned from industrial/commercial to residential. Developers can typically apply and file design plans directly with the city's planning board.
- 5). Convert the property into retail space. The meatpacking district in New York also features high-end designer boutiques and retail stores that used to serve an industrial purpose. Most convention hotels have large, open meeting spaces on the bottom floors that can be subdivided and converted into storefronts and warehouse space. The hotel rooms on upper floors can either be transformed into office space or converted into lofts. Zoning in the latter case would have to be changed from strictly commercial to dual commercial and residential.
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