[actuator]

Eh, there are quite a few apartment buildings in every major city which used to be something else like warehouses

[hinkley]

Which were gutted, abated, and rebuilt from the frame up.

Office building floors are concrete, usually. You cannot dictate where plumbing goes. Drain pipes are ruled by the iron fist of gravity. And down is technically in your downstairs neighbor's space.

[actuator]

I have seen few buildings in London itself which were warehouses and now have these weird shaped apartments with high ceiling height and a separate floor bedroom arrangement. A lot was kept from the old structure, some of them even make the plumbing added look more of an industrial design

[Spooky23]

Legacy warehouses are much easier buildings to retrofit.

[deelowe]

Plus, a converted loft that was formerly a hosiery mill from the turn of the century has a certain character to it. An apartment that used to be an ATT call center doesn't have quite the same appeal.

[deelowe]

Whataboutism doesn't change anything I said.