Closed US schools reborn as apartments, preserving memories along with housing

Shuttered American public schools, emptied by falling birth rates and a shrinking school-age population, are emerging as a new source of housing supply. Classrooms are being converted into apartments and gymnasiums into community halls, as aging school buildings are steadily reborn as rental housing. Local governments and developers are taking growing interest in the trend, which offers a way to ease housing shortages while preserving historic architecture.

The conversion of closed schools into apartments is spreading rapidly across the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Real estate platform RentCafe counted roughly 2,000 apartment units delivered last year from converted school buildings — four times the figure from the year before. The development pipeline also grew sharply, with 9,320 units in the works as of early this year, up from 7,710 units at the start of 2024.

Closed schools are proving more attractive for residential conversion than typical office buildings. School classrooms were originally designed at dimensions similar to apartment units, and their high ceilings and wide windows provide natural light and a sense of openness. Most schools sit at the heart of their communities, offering good accessibility, and their existing parking lots reduce the cost and complexity compared with ground-up development.

Daniel Huberger of Dattner Architects, the firm handling the conversion of shuttered Manhattan school PS186, said school buildings offer "a sense of space and light that is hard to find in new apartments."

One of the most cited examples is Wells School Residence in Southbridge, Massachusetts. The building, which served as a middle school in the 1970s, was converted in 2022 into a 62-unit senior rental housing complex.

One resident, Michelle Cloutier, attended the school as a child. Her apartment now occupies what was once the art room, and the gymnasium where students once played dodgeball has been transformed into a community space where residents gather for meals and events.

"Walking down the hallways and up and down the stairs brings back all those memories," Cloutier told the WSJ. "The gym where we used to play dodgeball is now where I get together with my neighbors to share food."

Local governments have been actively supporting such projects. With declining enrollment making schools harder to operate and vacant buildings costly to maintain, converting closed schools offers a way to add affordable rental housing while preserving landmarks that are part of a community's history.

Developers are making the projects financially viable by tapping federal and state low-income housing tax credits alongside historic preservation tax incentives. One school conversion project in South Carolina secured tens of millions of dollars in tax benefits and local government support to move forward.

The conversion process is far from simple, however. Many school buildings are around 100 years old, requiring complete overhauls of electrical and mechanical systems as well as asbestos and lead abatement. Large open spaces such as auditoriums, gymnasiums and cafeterias are difficult to adapt for residential use, weighing on the economics of each project.

Even so, developers agree that these conversions draw far stronger enthusiasm from residents than standard rental housing. A school is not just a building — it is a space that holds a community's memories.

In practice, some complexes have kept original hallway lockers, chalkboards and granite staircases intact. Tim Kozlowski, a resident at another converted school apartment in Massachusetts, said the worn steps carry the marks of a century of use. "When you walk in, you can still feel that distinct school atmosphere," he said.

"Residents form their own groups, small conflicts arise — it really feels like school life," he said. "It feels like the school has come back to life as a new community."

The WSJ attributed the rise of school conversions to falling birth rates and declining public school enrollment. South Korea faces a similar dynamic, with the number of closed schools growing every year as its school-age population shrinks — prompting some observers to suggest that the American model of repurposing historic school buildings as housing or mixed-use facilities could offer a new path forward.