自从新冠肺炎疫情时期在家办公的现象兴起以来，许多美国城市都在努力解决空置办公空间的问题，同时还在努力解决经济适用房短缺的问题，华盛顿州就是其中之一。
周一，华盛顿市长穆里尔·布瑟拜会了总统乔·拜登要么终止联邦政府雇员在家工作的远程办公政策，要么将美国首都空置的政府大楼转为住宅，以推动10万新居民搬进这座城市。
联邦政府拥有或租赁了华盛顿州三分之一的房产，以及该市在疫情之前四分之一的工作岗位。
该市正在利用税收减免来鼓励空置办公楼的转换，作为解决住房短缺的一个办法，但布瑟说，拜登需要帮助。
她说:“我们需要白宫采取果断行动，要么让大多数联邦工作人员在大部分时间回到办公室，要么重新调整他们的大量财产，供地方政府、非营利组织、企业和任何愿意振兴它的用户使用。”
布瑟指出，目前有25，000人把华盛顿市中心作为自己的家。她说，该市将“在未来五年内增加15000名居民，并在一切就绪之前再增加87000名居民。”目前，中央商务区的92%由商业空间组成，住宅空间仅占8%。这是根据布瑟市中心的住房减排计划，市长办公室试图鼓励新的住宅改造项目的增加。
CBRE是一家全球性商业房地产公司，它研究了写字楼的改造，指出在美国只有218栋写字楼完成了改造在2016年到2021年之间平均每年36次转换。然而，到2022年12月初，CBRE表示，去年有42栋建筑被改造。波士顿以38个建筑改造项目领先市场，旧金山半岛以28个，华盛顿和洛杉矶并列第三，各有11个建筑改造项目。与华盛顿不同，许多排名超过华盛顿特区的城市不需要作为房东与联邦政府谈判。
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去年12月，为了促进市中心的重建，市长布瑟宣布改建和平队几十年来的总部大楼。该建筑将被改造为Elle公寓，预计在2024年5月开业时将增加163个住宅单元。
布瑟在去年12月表示，“我们已经看到混合用途社区在面对逆境时更具弹性。通过将空置的办公室改造成住宅，我们可以将这些空间重新用于生产，增加急需的住房，并创造一个充满活力的市中心，供人们生活、工作和娱乐。”
副市长约翰·法尔契奥(John Falcicchio)去年12月表示，该市的市中心重建战略有三个要点:“改变空间、填充空间、吸引人。”
Falcicchio补充说，“在市中心建造新的住房将会带来更有活力的社区和全天候的经济。市中心住房减排计划将激励更多的转换，并带来更多的住房负担能力和零售机会。”
华盛顿有超过2000万平方英尺的空置办公空间，希望市中心的住房减排计划能够通过对建筑物提供税收减免来激励未来的住宅改造，这些建筑物包括至少15%的总单元，以满足60%符合家庭收入中位数阈值的人的负担能力，四口之家的家庭收入中位数为103，200美元。
鲍尔作为第一位连续三个四年任期的黑人女市长，历史性的第三个任期将面临新的国会和新的共和党领导层。尽管华盛顿特区没有州地位，但布瑟誓言将继续为华盛顿的自治而战。在周一的宣誓就职仪式上，她指出，“随着新一届国会的开始，我承诺将继续努力控制我们在该地区需要的一切，保护我们的身体自主权，税收和监管我们企业的能力，并为我们参与司法的年轻人提供服务。”
联邦政府的主要人力资源机构人事管理办公室没有立即回应ABC新闻的置评请求。
DC mayor calls on Biden to end federal work-from-home or create affordable housing
Since the rise of work-from-home during the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington is among many American cities that have wrestled with vacant office space while simultaneously battling a lack of affordable housing.
On Monday, Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser called on President Joe Biden to either end work-from-home telework policies for federal government employees or turn over vacant government buildings in the nation's capital for housing in a new push to move 100,000 new residents into the city.
The federal government accounts for one-third of properties owned or leased in Washington and a quarter of the city's pre-pandemic jobs.
The city is utilizing tax breaks to encourage the conversion of vacant office buildings as a solution to the lack of housing but Bowser says Biden needs to help.
"We need decisive action by the White House to either get most federal workers back to the office, most of the time, or to realign their vast property holdings for use by the local government, by nonprofits, by businesses and by any user willing to revitalize it," she said.
Bowser notes that currently 25,000 people currently call downtown D.C. home. She says the city will "add 15,000 residents over the next five years and 87,000 more before it's all said and done." Currently, 92% of the central business district consists of commercial space, residential space only accounts for 8%. That's according to Bowser's Housing in Downtown Abatement Program, which the mayor's office seeks to encourage a rise in new residential conversion projects.
CBRE, a global commercial real estate company that has studied office conversions, notes that only 218 office conversions were completed in the U.S. between 2016 to 2021 an average of 36 conversions a year. However, by early December 2022, CBRE says 42 buildings had been converted within the last year. Boston leads the market with 38 building conversions, San Francisco Peninsula with 28, and D.C. and Los Angeles were tied for third with 11 building conversions each. Many of the cities that out-ranked D.C., unlike Washington, don't have to negotiate with the federal government as a landlord.
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In December, in an effort to promote a reimagined downtown, Mayor Bowser announced the conversion of the old Vanguard building that headquartered the Peace Corps for decades. The building will be converted to the Elle Apartments and is expected to add 163 residential units when it opens in May 2024.
Bowser said in December, "We have seen how mixed-use communities are more resilient in the face of adversity. By converting vacant offices into homes, we can put these spaces back to productive use, add much-needed housing, and create a vibrant downtown where people live, work, and play."
Deputy Mayor John Falcicchio said in December that the city's downtown reimagination strategy has three key points: "Change the space, fill the space, and bring the people."
Falcicchio added, "creating new housing in downtown will lead to a more vibrant neighborhood and a 24/7 economy. The Housing in Downtown Abatement Program will incentivize more conversions, and bring about more housing affordability and retail opportunities."
D.C., which has over 20 million square feet of vacant office space, hopes that the Housing in Downtown Abatement Program will incentivize future residential transformations by offering tax relief to buildings that include at least 15% of total units to be affordable to 60% of people who qualify for the median family income threshold, which is $103,200 for a four-person family.
Bower's historic third term as the first Black woman mayor to serve three consecutive four-year terms will be met by a new Congress and new GOP leadership. Despite D.C.'s lack of statehood, Bowser is vowing to continue to fight for Washington's autonomy. At her swearing-in Monday, she noted, "as this new Congress starts, I promise to keep fighting for control over everything that we need in the district, protecting our bodily autonomy, the ability to tax and regulate our businesses, and to provide services to our justice-involved youth."
The Office of Personnel Management, the chief human resources agency for the federal government, did not immediately respond to an ABC News request for comment.
