Simple...make them rent-free for ten years and you have...
1. Bums
2. Homeless
3. Druggies
4. Illegal invaders
Especially if maid service, fresh linens, daily new fresh cut flowers, laundry service, drug and booze delivery, and three squares a day are included at no cost.
One has to think over this idea for a while. Empty office-buildings to be re-used?
So why are the buildings unused? Companies see no value to maintain them...since going to a smaller footprint and using home-office strategies.
Negatives here? You purchase and renovate for apartment-like homes...when there are no jobs in these locations (SF, LA, NYC, etc). I would imagine the renovation cost per unit to be greater than $250,000 per unit (you’ve already got high union cost in these urban locations).
In the end, you have some junkie in SF that you give a unit that is valued at $300,000....that $200,000 of renovation was poured into. Half-a-million spent on this and it’s turned into a ghetto within five to ten years.
Reason to go this path? Real estate owners are holding onto properties that are now worthless, and it’s a favor for the gov’t to buy their property at top-dollar.