space. old offices turned into classssrooms and biotech labs. nobody wants to have a city backdrop that has unoccupied buildings that are decrepit and generally not attractive to their city, and so this is somewhat of a watershed moment to make sure that our cities can reinvent themselves. reporter: reinventing isn t easy. zoning laws and the cost of conversion are already obstacles. one study estimates only 15% of office buildings are convertible. back in kansas city at sky on main, the uniformed shape of the building allows for a copy and paste approach. every one of the floors that we re doing here is just exact same layout all the way up. reporter: the finished units an example of what could be when the conditions are just right. do you expect to see more buildings downtown make conversions like this one? i do expect that. why? well, once they ve seen that we ve been successful. reporter: even though this office isn t a house, proof