It’s an idiom that’s been with Boulder since the beginning: Space is at a premium.

For our beloved city, where housing is perpetually in demand, there is very little room to grow outward — in part because we have done such a good job of preserving our natural habitats and open spaces.

But Boulder is only so big, so to develop more housing supply — which we are desperately in need of — means we must fill in.

In-fill development, though, has become a bit of a boogeyman for some. There are fears that in-fill will be allowed to bulldoze our entire city and turn it into a concrete metropolis, where buildings tower above our height limit and all of our green spaces are paved for roads and parking lots.

These fears, though, are hyperbolic. They overlook the fact that growth is necessary for our community — especially in the face of climate change. That may sound counterintuitive, but the fact of the matter is that density will reduce sprawl, which can protect nature and reduce emissions from commuting.

Roughly 60,000 people commute into Boulder each day. If we can help even a small portion of those who are interested relocate closer to their employment — and if we continue investing in bike and public transit infrastructure — we can take a real dent out of our collective carbon emissions.

(Transportation is the largest polluter in the U.S., and passenger cars account for 58% of those emissions, according to the EPA.)

All of this means that Boulder needs more housing units — more affordable housing units, more middle-income housing units and more housing that makes it possible for young families to put down roots and call Boulder home.

Bringing such a wealth of housing to our community, though, will take a multipronged approach. One potential prong of that approach is a relatively novel tool: turning vacant offices into residences.

Boulder Housing Partners is in the process of turning the headquarters of the Geological Society of America, at 3300 Penrose Place, into deed-restricted permanently affordable housing.

The original, 53-year-old portion of the Geological Society building will be one of several residential buildings in the finished complex, which will add 113 affordable units to the city’s supply.

It sounds like a great development. Especially because the building was a valuable bit of space that was being underused. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Geological Society realized that so many employees were working from home that the space wasn’t being fully utilized. This realization ultimately led to the decision to sell.

With space at such a premium in Boulder, making sure that we are using every square foot wisely is the best way we can grow in a thoughtful, reasonable manner.

Looking around the rest of Boulder, the office vacancy rate seems to be a sign that turning other underused offices into residences could be a good path forward, especially downtown. In other words, the challenge of vacant offices and the hollowing of downtowns is also an opportunity.

Throughout the city, Boulder’s total office vacancy rate is around 22%, according to Dean Callan’s most recent Boulder Market report. In downtown Boulder, that figure jumps to nearly 30%. For comparison, Denver’s citywide rate is nearly 22% and over 31% downtown. The national vacancy rate, as of last year, is nearly 20%.

Converting at least a portion of these should seem like a win-win. We add more units to our housing supply, bring more people back to the retail businesses in the area and property owners sitting on vacant offices get tenants — just a new sort.

But a concerted effort to transform unused office space into housing scratches at more fundamental questions about the future of work and cities. Is work-from-home here to stay? Is the traditional office really dying? And, in such a future, how do we ensure our local economy stays vibrant and inviting to retail and businesses?

It seems obvious that converting some offices into housing is one answer. But like with all big changes, a patchwork solution is likely key.

For John Tayer, president and CEO of the Boulder Chamber, the most important thing is letting the market decide. If housing is the answer, it will happen organically. But the best path forward in his eyes is getting even more creative with our vacant spaces.

The first solution, according to Tayer, is simply making more flexible office spaces to meet the demands of a greater variety of businesses, along with the residential conversion option. With work-from-home being so dominant, the new reality is that many companies don’t have the same traditional needs for a sprawling office building.

For downtown, Tayer also suggested considering second-floor retail, partnerships with CU that could see classrooms or administration move downtown, and doing some marketing to try to bring businesses to downtown Boulder.

“In the past, our marketing has been the city being close to the mountains,” Tayer said, referring to Boulder’s general desirability. “But now we might need to let people know that downtown is affordable, that there are opportunities and creative spaces.”

This is a practical approach. The key will be ensuring that our city code, zoning ordinances and development process help to facilitate this path into the future. Because whether or not work-from-home is a permanent fixture of our economy going forward, the fact of the matter is, our cities are changing — and they need to.

As we plan for the future, our goals for future development should be to create dense, mixed-use and environmentally friendly communities that are walkable and bikeable, where people can live, work, shop and play. Exploring opportunities to turn our vacant office spaces into housing is one way to realize this future.

But as with all things, moderation is key. We may want to bring workers and families to live in our community, but we also want to ensure that businesses have the space to thrive and grow — so those workers have somewhere to work and so we can reap the tax dollars of having businesses in our community.

Space is at a premium in Boulder. Let’s keep exploring creative ways to address our housing crisis and utilize the space we have to build an efficient, equitable and environmentally friendly community.

— Gary Garrison for the Editorial Board