The Mark preserved the 1926 Stalder Building facade at street level while adding a modern seven-story structure with 165 apartments above. The adaptive reuse project completed in 2023.
Riverside is developing its first adaptive reuse ordinance to convert empty commercial and office buildings into housing, with city planners presenting a timeline Monday to complete the new regulations by spring 2026.
The "Repurpose Riverside" project is funded through a $1.5 million technical assistance grant from the Western Riverside Council of Governments.
"We envision a future where we have these office buildings today, where in a couple of years it could turn into something like this and revitalize an entire area of the city," said Daniel Palafox, associate planner with the Community and Economic Development Department.
The ordinance addresses barriers that currently prevent property owners from converting commercial buildings to housing. Most existing commercial and office buildings sit in zoning districts that don't permit residential use, requiring lengthy rezoning processes.
Parking requirements also create obstacles for adaptive reuse projects. Recent state legislation helps address this barrier by eliminating minimum parking requirements for projects within a half-mile of high-quality transit areas.
The City Council’s Land Use Committee members expressed support for the initiative, noting both environmental and practical benefits.
Committee Chair Councilmember Sean Mill emphasized the environmental advantages. "This is environmentally sound policy. Instead of tearing down buildings and building new, we're using what's already there. It's about as green as you could get as far as development," Mill said.
Councilmember Philip Falcone noted that Riverside's most successful developments are already adaptive reuse projects. "The Farmhouse, the Cheech, the Imperial Hardware, the Mark, all of those things – I think there's no denying the value of it," he said.
The project team is evaluating adaptive reuse ordinances across California to determine the best approach for Riverside.
San Francisco offers reduced development fees, relaxed development standards, and streamlined historic preservation processes in its financial district. Los Angeles has one of the state's largest adaptive reuse programs. Since adopting its ordinance in 1999, the city has facilitated the creation of approximately 12,000 new housing units in downtown Los Angeles.
The consulting team has completed six adaptive reuse projects converting offices to housing.
The consulting team held a roundtable meeting with local property owners and developers in November, with a public meeting planned for early 2026.
The ordinance will be presented to the Planning Commission and City Council for final adoption in spring 2026.
Council will consider a local shopping rewards program and review modifying subdivision restrictions to permit state-required lot splits; the Land Use Committee will review tobacco regulations that could phase out existing shops.
