Adaptive reuse: industrial zones.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide specific details on the cost implications or the exact impact on local governments' duties beyond expanding eligibility for streamlined reviews.

Adaptive Reuse in Industrial Zones

AB-2288 changes the rules to allow old industrial buildings to be repurposed into residential or mixed-use spaces, except for those used for high-risk activities.

What This Bill Does

• Changes the law to allow some old industrial buildings to be turned into places where people can live or work and live in one place.
• Doesn't let this happen if the building is used for very risky things like making dangerous chemicals.
• Expands what counts as an 'adaptive reuse project' by excluding buildings that are used for high-risk activities.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who want to turn old industrial buildings into homes or mixed-use spaces.
• Local governments that review plans to change these kinds of buildings.

Terms To Know

Adaptive Reuse Project

A project where an existing building is fixed up and changed for a new use, like turning it into homes or mixed-use spaces.

High-Hazard (Group H) Occupancy

Buildings used for activities that are very risky, such as making dangerous chemicals.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify how much it will cost local governments to review these projects.
• It is unclear which specific industrial buildings this law will affect.
• This bill only applies starting July 1, 2026.

Official Summary Text

AB 2288, as introduced, Quirk-Silva.
Adaptive reuse: industrial zones.
Existing law, the Office to Housing Conversion Act, beginning July 1, 2026, deems an adaptive reuse project a use by right in all zones, regardless of the zoning of the site, and subject to a streamlined, ministerial review process, if the project meets specified requirements. Existing law defines an “adaptive reuse project” as the retrofitting and repurposing of an existing building to create new residential or mixed uses including office conversion projects and excludes from that definition, among other things, the retrofitting and repurposing of any building that is within an industrial zone that does not permit residential uses. Existing law prohibits an adaptive reuse project from being permitted in an industrial zone, as defined, that does not permit residential uses.
This bill would revise the above-described prohibition to specify an
adaptive reuse project is not permitted on a site where the existing primary use is classified as a high-hazard (Group H) occupancy under Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, as it read on January 1, 2025. The bill would also revise the definition of an “adaptive reuse project” to exclude the retrofitting and repurposing of any building whose primary existing use is a high-hazard (Group H) occupancy under Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations, as it read on January 1, 2025.
By expanding eligibility for streamlined, ministerial review of adaptive reuse projects, and therefore expanding the duties of the local government, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF