KTGY’s Marissa Kasdan and Mark Oberholzer unpack the opportunities and design strategies behind adaptive reuse and their innovative Upcycle Tower concept—offering a sustainable roadmap for converting commercial buildings into modern housing.
With office vacancies rising and housing shortages mounting, the commercial real estate industry is at a tipping point. In this episode of I Hear Design, host Robert Nieminen sits down with Marissa Kasdan and Mark Oberholzer of KTGY to explore how adaptive reuse—and their bold Upcycle Tower concept—could reshape our cities.
They discuss the real-world challenges of converting steel-framed office towers into viable residential buildings, the role of city incentives, and how thoughtful design can balance livability, cost, and sustainability. Learn how phased conversions, mixed-use flexibility, and embodied carbon savings are making adaptive reuse a compelling path forward for developers and municipalities alike.
Topics covered:
- Economic and environmental case for adaptive reuse
- KTGY’s Upcycle Tower design concept
- Zoning and policy changes in cities like Los Angeles
- Structural and cost considerations
- Strategies for integrating office and residential spaces
- Urban resilience and sustainable development
Marissa Kasdan, Assoc. AIA, Director, Research and Development, KTGY
In her role as director of research and development at KTGY, Marissa Kasdan leads the creation and execution of research and development projects, exploring new and emerging ideas related to building design and technology. She is the liaison for the studio, working with KTGY’s national executive leadership on new concepts and developing these concepts together with the R+D studio team. The goal of the R+D studio is to further the vision of KTGY: to see a world alive with design possibilities that create thriving environments.
Marissa represents KTGY’s R+D studio with presentations and education on new technologies, by-lined articles and news media commentary on trends and futuristic ideas, conceptualizing social media for the studio, and as a contributor to KTGY’s EXPAND Magazine.
She offers more than 20 years of design experience to the thought leadership of KTGY, having joined the firm after she obtained her Bachelor of Architecture from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. Her varied architecture experience includes work on residential, retail, and mixed-use developments both at KTGY and for several years with a competitive regional design firm.
KTGY’s R+D Studio has been awarded numerous design awards, including winning NMHC’s Innovation Challenge in 2019 for the Park House design concept, a re-use concept for transforming under-used parking structure space with modular housing, and the AIA Orange County Inspire Award in 2018 for Re-Habit, a design concept that proposes repurposing underutilized retail space into supportive transitional housing for the homeless.
Mark Oberholzer, AIA, LEED AP, NCARB, Principal, KTGY
Context is everything. In cities like Los Angeles, context includes not just existing buildings and neighborhoods, but an emerging sense of urban identity and possibility. Mark Oberholzer’s strength is engaging with the context of client goals, zoning complexity, urban design, stakeholder influences, economic imperatives and design integrity to tease out extraordinary architectural solutions.
Mark has been at the forefront of KTGY’s expertise in innovative construction techniques–harnessing the design possibilities of modular construction, bearing steel stud systems and heavy timber. He sees construction technology as another part of the context of design, bringing a conviction that collaboration, imagination, hard work and a sense of humor are the best tools to reaching the goal of better design.
