I'm all fer it. Let 'em build. Rental conversions can go back on the market as single (or two) family homes, to which they are better suited. They'll be tough to sell in the terrible housing market, but I believe that centrally located older homes will still do better than crap built out in the burbs over the long run, and better to suck people into the center than let them think they can all settle in outer burbs. I say if they think they can make a the investment work, and they have the means to finish it, let 'em do it. Yeah, it might hurt small time landlords, but that's a risk you take when investment property is your business. Of course, my support is contingent on the design fitting in to the urban design and infrastructure.