From Ghost Towers to Homes: How LA Is Rewiring Its Urban Landscape

LOS ANGELES, CA – June 30, 2026 – The hulking steel and glass towers that define the skylines of our cities have long been monuments to commerce. But as remote work empties these vertical campuses, a new question emerges: what is the purpose of a downtown office building when the office is no longer downtown? In Los Angeles, a bold answer is taking shape. A landmark partnership is betting it can transform these quiet giants into a solution for the city’s most pressing human crisis: housing.

Global real estate investor Kennedy Wilson and prolific Los Angeles developer Jamison have announced a joint venture to create 4,000 affordable housing units across the city. Their inaugural project is a powerful symbol of this new urban strategy: the conversion of the former LA World Trade Center at 350 S. Figueroa Street into 512 homes. The project, aptly re-branded “Sky Castle,” isn’t just a new development; it’s a proof of concept for a system designed to address two deeply intertwined problems—the glut of vacant office space and the desperate shortage of affordable housing.

The Blueprint on Figueroa Street

The Sky Castle project serves as a tangible blueprint for this new model. The 400,000-square-foot office complex will be methodically converted into a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments. This isn’t a luxury conversion. The units are reserved for families earning between 30% and 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI), a demographic crushed by the city’s rental market. With initial rents projected to start as low as $937 for a one-bedroom, these homes represent a lifeline for thousands of working Angelenos.

The conversion, set to begin in August 2026, will be phased. The first stage will tackle the building’s concourse levels to deliver 241 units, followed by a second phase for the remaining 271 units in the tower above. The plan goes beyond just swapping desks for beds. It involves a complete reimagining of the building's ecosystem, with new kitchens, bathrooms, and modern community amenities including co-working spaces, resident lounges, and on-site laundry. It’s an act of architectural alchemy, turning a relic of the 20th-century economy into a vertical neighborhood for the 21st.

This process, known as adaptive reuse, is championed as a more sustainable and often faster alternative to ground-up construction. By leveraging the existing structure, the project reduces embodied carbon, diverts tons of waste from landfills, and preserves a piece of the city’s architectural fabric. For a city grappling with ambitious climate goals and an urgent housing timeline, the appeal is obvious.

A Partnership Forged in Crisis

Behind this ambitious plan are two real estate titans bringing complementary strengths to the table. Kennedy Wilson, a global firm with $37 billion in assets, operates an established affordable housing platform, Vintage Housing. Since acquiring a stake in 2015, Kennedy Wilson has helped expand the platform from 5,000 to over 13,000 affordable units across the Western U.S. They bring the scale, financial architecture, and specialized knowledge of navigating the complex world of affordable housing tax credits and financing.

“This strategic partnership between Jamison and our Vintage Housing platform is all about providing much-needed affordable housing in our backyard, the City of Los Angeles,” said Nicholas Bridges, Global Head of Capital Markets at Kennedy Wilson. He emphasized that the venture builds on a decades-long relationship to “accelerate delivery of approximately 4,000 affordable housing rental units across the city.”

On the other side of the venture is Jamison, a name synonymous with Los Angeles real estate. As one of the city's largest private landlords, Jamison possesses deep local market knowledge and, crucially, an extensive portfolio of commercial properties. The firm is also a seasoned expert in adaptive reuse, with the World Trade Center marking its 15th office-to-housing conversion. This venture represents a strategic pivot for Jamison, channeling its market-rate development expertise into its new affordable housing division, Arden Residential.

“Kennedy Wilson’s Vintage Housing platform is the ideal partner given our shared long-term vision, institutional strength, and operational excellence,” noted Garrett Lee, Chief Executive Officer of Jamison. He highlighted the fusion of Kennedy Wilson's capabilities with Jamison's “deep local market knowledge and hands-on development expertise” to create thoughtfully designed housing in transit-rich areas.

Unlocking the City with a New Key

This massive private-sector undertaking would not be possible without a fundamental shift in public policy. The key that unlocks the potential of projects like Sky Castle is Los Angeles's recently expanded Adaptive Reuse Ordinance (ARO). The original 1999 ordinance was credited with revitalizing Downtown LA by allowing pre-1974 commercial buildings to be converted into housing, leading to the creation of over 12,000 residential units.

However, that ordinance was limited in geography and scope. Recognizing the urgency of the current crises, the Los Angeles City Council passed a citywide ARO that went into effect earlier this year. The new rules expand eligibility to buildings that are at least 15 years old across all neighborhoods and streamline the notoriously difficult approval process. Planning officials estimate this single piece of legislation could enable the creation of more than 43,000 new homes citywide.

Mayor Karen Bass and other city leaders have championed the ordinance as a critical tool, acknowledging that outdated regulations had long stood in the way of common-sense solutions. By making it easier and more predictable to convert underutilized buildings, the city is effectively recalibrating its own operating system to incentivize the exact kind of development it needs.

The Dual-Engine Solution

The Kennedy Wilson-Jamison partnership is more than a real estate deal; it is a market response to a systemic failure. For years, Los Angeles has been running on two broken engines. The first is a commercial real estate market sputtering under the weight of post-pandemic realities, with office vacancy rates in Downtown LA approaching a staggering 30%. The second is a housing market that has failed its residents, with an estimated shortage of nearly 500,000 affordable homes for low-income renters in the county.

The adaptive reuse model championed by this joint venture is a dual-engine solution that addresses both problems simultaneously. It provides a viable future for aging, empty office buildings, preventing the urban decay that follows widespread commercial vacancy. At the same time, it injects thousands of desperately needed, high-quality affordable homes directly into job-rich, transit-oriented neighborhoods. This isn't just about putting a roof over people's heads; it's about rebuilding the economic and social fabric of the city from the inside out. The success of Sky Castle and the subsequent 3,500 units will be a critical test of whether this innovative system can be scaled to truly rewire the future of Los Angeles.