There's a certain appeal that comes with apartment buildings that were once something else,  such as a hotel or factory. Conversions of all types of commercial properties into multifamily assets have been taking place for at least 70 years but, in the past decade, office buildings have become the darling of adaptive reuse focused on creating homes, according to a new report from RENTCafe Blog.

In a startling jump, the 2010s saw 55 times more old buildings converted to apartment communities compared to the 1950s, according to Yardi Matrix data shared in the report, written by Alexandra Ciuntu.

A large swath of the conversions, 65%, have created affordable housing. Built in 1917 in Rochester, NY as the Eastman Dental Dispensary, the restored Eastman Gardens now provides affordable senior living apartments and is host to replicated murals and woodwork. Many former hotels also have become affordable apartment complexes.