The Los Angeles City Council this week voted to expand the adaptive reuse ordinance to apply citywide in a move aimed at making it easier to convert vacant offices into much-needed housing. 
The new ordinance repeals the city’s existing Adaptive Reuse Incentive Areas Specific Plan, which had kept conversions confined to areas of the city including Downtown, Chinatown, Hollywood and Koreatown.
It also broadens the age of the buildings that can be considered for adaptive reuse to those at least 15 years old and allows more projects to receive approvals by right, the Los Angeles Daily News reported. 
Some developers have been quick to dismiss…