Successfully convert commercial structures to living spaces

Giving old buildings new life drives builders and designers to convert old commercial buildings into residential housing. Beyond the aesthetics, builders can profit from transforming unused commercial structures into viable residential living spaces.

Hollywood project evokes the golden age of music

Cherokee Studios is in the process of becoming one of the most distinctive buildings in its class. Rethink Development, a real estate development and consulting company based in Los Angeles, has developed a LEED Platinum certified mixed-use space, the first of its kind in California.

“The building was designed to fit the environmental and cultural context in which it is built,” said Greg Reitz, principal architect at Rethink Development Corp. The space is 40 percent more efficient than California’s energy code for newly constructed buildings, uses water-conserving appliances such as dual flush toilets, uses hot water circulators, and is solar-powered in all common areas.