The Honolulu City Council will have its final vote Wednesday on a bill that would lay out the standards to convert commercial buildings to residential.
It’s in reaction to a state law that gives counties until 2025 to adopt ordinances allowing commercial-to-residential building conversions, also known as adaptive reuse.
The new state law says conversion projects just need to follow the international building code, which does not require windows to open. But the city currently goes beyond the international building code, requiring openable windows in residential properties.
Starting next year, adaptive reuse projects would be exempt from the window requirements due to the state law.
Councilmember Matt Weyer explained that the bill allows the city to ensure there are protections in place when the state law goes into effect.
"The state law that passed would just be what would be applied by the city," he said.
"Through having conversations with both those wanting to do adaptive reuse and the [planning] department, we found safeguards that could be implemented in the city ordinance that also still complies with the state law that allow us to do these adaptive reuse projects in a safe way while also increasing our housing inventory."
The bill requires conversion projects that rely exclusively on mechanical ventilation to be able to maintain outdoor airflow in the case of a power outage.
Three commercial-to-residential projects have already been completed on Oʻahu.
