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'I remember walking the halls': Older Americans are moving into their old schools — now converted into affordable apartments

Em Norton
Jul 19, 2026
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Back to school means something different for older Americans these days, as vacant public schools around the country are being turned into rent-regulated housing — mainly for seniors.

A RentCafe report found that nearly 2,000 apartments were created from former school buildings in 2024, up four times from the previous year.

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And according to The Wall Street Journal’s analysis of RentCafe data, there were 9,320 units from school-to-apartment conversions in the development pipeline at the start of 2026, up from 7,710 at the start of 2024.

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The Residences at Wells School in Southbridge, Massachusetts previously housed a public high school. In 2022, it was converted into 62 apartments for those 55 and older. The school was sitting dormant until developers started their conversion in 2020. In 2023, the Residences at Wells School won first place in the Best Building Renovation Design category at the 2022 Senior Housing News (SHN) Architecture and Design Awards.

The WSJ spoke to resident Michele Cloutier, who went to junior high at Wells School. Cloutier now lives in the school’s former art room.

“It’s nostalgic,” she told WSJ. “I remember walking the halls, up the stairwells.”

It’s not just Southbridge that’s making these big changes. School conversions in Austin, Texas, Charleston, S.C. and more are opening up living spaces for seniors and making use of schools that haven’t had kids running down the hall in a long time.

Why all these building conversions now?

According to NPR, Tracy Richter, Vice President of Planning Services at consulting firm HPM, cites declining birth rates and a lack of affordable housing options in large metro areas (which keeps young families away) as the main factors that are driving so many school closures in America.

Since part of public schools’ state and federal funding is based on per student enrollment, and fewer students means less money coming in while other maintenance expenses remain, the schools simply can’t afford to stay up and running. These vacancies then ultimately allow for more housing conversions.

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The benefits of living in an old classroom

At the end of the day, seniors seeking rent-regulated housing can benefit from these school closures, despite the often unfortunate reasoning for their closing.

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Living in an old public school has its perks. Since schools tend to be centrally located within communities, have big windows, wide hallways and tall ceilings, they make a great base for an apartment complex — especially one for seniors who often benefit from community culture and accessible layouts.

Along with the benefits of the physical space, the regulated rent is a huge perk for seniors. Because the building is being re-purposed — and some of these buildings are considered historic — developers have access to tax credits and grants that make them able to offer more affordable rent prices.

For instance, WSJ reported that “Archer School Apartments, a more than $40 million school-conversion project in Charleston, S.C., received $24.4 million in equity from federal and state low-income tax credits, $2 million from a state abandoned-building tax credit, plus $2 million in funds from the county and a $4.5 million forgivable loan from the city.”

While some of these schools are being priced out due to lack of enrollment, they’re at least able to be given new life through an older generation.

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Em Norton Content Specialist

Em Norton is a Content Specialist at moneywise.com. They have been with the company since 2022.

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