California is the top state in the nation for adaptive reuse conversions into office space. According to a new report from Yardi, 595 buildings totaling 41.3 million square feet has been converted into office space in the last 100 years, according to a report from Yardi.

"California is home to some of the largest and most sprawling cities in the country. In addition, the cities of the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and San Diego are all coastal, with large shipping ports—significant for industrial uses, which are the most common buildings to convert to office use," Patrick McGregor of Yardi tells GlobeSt.com. "California, and Silicon Valley in particular, has expanded office footprints of tech companies since the 80's with many occupying offices that were once used for industrial space."

The report takes a long-term look at adaptive reuse, over the last 100 years. Overall, industrial buildings are the primary candidates for conversion into office, and that hasn't changed in recent years. "Industrial buildings are the go-to for adaptive reuses to office space," says McGregor. "Over the last 40 years, industrial areas on the edges of urban cores have been hotbeds for office conversions. With developable space becoming scarcer—and more expensive—these industrial areas have become more attractive. In many cases, it's also less capital-intensive to renovate an industrial building for office use than to develop a new building from the ground up. A compression in cap rates also made less capital-intensive projects more attractive. Creative space in an old factory is also very marketable."