| Ramzi Chamat
Geneva, a city where available housing is scarce, is experiencing a significant increase in vacant offices, reaching a record level. The conversions of these spaces into housing are complex and remain exceptional, despite a law being relaxed in 2015. This article explores this paradoxical situation and its implications on the Geneva real estate market.
While Geneva is facing a housing shortage, the number of vacant offices in the city has doubled in a year, creating a striking contrast in the real estate market. Peripheral areas are losing their attractiveness, and office-to-housing conversions remain rare, despite a law aiming to encourage such transformations.
The real estate market in Geneva presents a notable contrast between an abundant supply of vacant offices and a scarcity of available housing. The surface of vacant offices has reached a record level, with a significant increase in a year, particularly in the new districts of Pont-Rouge and de l’Étang.
The peripheral areas of Geneva, such as the regions around the airport and Blandonnet, are becoming less and less attractive. Companies are looking for spaces offering a better quality of life for employees, making properties less interesting in these desperately empty regions described as "devastated."
Despite an acute shortage of housing in Geneva, conversions of offices into housing remain exceptional and complex, even after the relaxation of the law on demolitions, transformations, and renovations in 2015. This shortage highlights the urgency of finding innovative solutions to address the lack of available housing. However, the obstacles to these transformations are numerous. The vacant offices, often located in activity zones, face security restrictions and industrial risks that make their conversion into housing difficult. This situation raises crucial questions about how to effectively solve the housing crisis in the city, using available spaces optimally.
The situation of the real estate market in Geneva is marked by a contrast between the housing shortage and the abundance of vacant offices. Peripheral areas are losing attractiveness, and attempts to convert offices into housing are faced with numerous challenges. This dynamic raises important questions about the future evolution of the real estate market in the region.
