Breaktime is turning a former bank and office building in downtown Boston into a one-stop shop for young adults experiencing homelessness.

Why it matters: The organization is bringing all the resources they need most to one place downtown — a move nonprofits can rarely afford.

• It's the first example — but perhaps won't be the last — of a nonprofit capitalizing on downtown's declining commercial real estate prices.

The big picture: A handful of nonprofits across the country are jumping on vacant office buildings, buying or leasing spaces for less than they went for pre-pandemic.

• Urban Sprouts, a childhood education provider in St. Louis, Missouri, bought vacant sites next to its property to expand, per the nonprofit real estate lender IFF.
• Another nonprofit, Life Remodeled in Detroit, is repurposing shuttered schools into community centers.

Catch up quick: Breaktime bought the Franklin Street building in December for $6.3 million, less than one-fourth of its 2015 price. The space once housed an Eastern Bank branch.

• The purchase prompted other nonprofit leaders to ask Breaktime how its team made the move and whether it could be replicated.

State of play: Downtown Boston's office vacancies have surged higher than what the neighborhood experienced during the 2008 financial crisis and after 9/11, per a report by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

• Between the rise of remote work and the companies downsizing office space, the neighborhood is seeing between 80,000 and 125,000 fewer workers, per MTF. Many work in finance, insurance, social services and government.
• The city has offered perks for building owners who apply for office-to-housing conversions, but several office spaces remain available.

Zoom in: Breaktime's building has six floors, with three dedicated to the nonprofit's work, says co-founder and executive director Connor Schoen.

• The other floors will include a clinic by Boston Health Care for the Homeless and potentially a business that will employ young adults experiencing housing insecurity.

What they're saying: "You could literally take a shower, do your laundry, get job training, meet with your case manager, get therapy and do your physical across three floors," Schoen tells Axios.

What's next: Breaktime might soon be joined by arts nonprofits and creatives seeking to repurpose vacant office space.

Keep reading: Mayor Wu's arts plans

For the first time, Breaktime will be able to offer young adults experiencing homelessness access to showers, therapy, physicals and job training — all under one roof.

Why it matters: Executive director Connor Schoen says one of Breaktime's associates (AKA its clients) put it best when they said just getting all the resources across the city to help them survive homelessness can be a full-time job.

• Here's what the building will offer:

Floors 3-5: Breaktime's space

• The third floor will be a drop-in space where young adults can shower, wash and dry their clothes, get donated clothes and food. There will also be room for meetings with caseworkers and for them to work on their computers.
• The fourth floor will be a job training hub.
• The fifth floor will house Breaktime's staff offices and meeting rooms.
• The nonprofit plans to finish renovations and open these floors by late spring.

Floor 2: The health clinic

Boston Health Care for the Homeless will run a clinic out of the second floor, opening around summer 2026.

• The organization plans to offer services ranging from primary care to therapy, per Schoen.

Floor 1: Potential business tenant

Breaktime is seeking a business tenant to run out of the first floor, once housed by an Eastern Bank branch.

• The business would employ young adults experiencing housing insecurity, Schoen says.

Basement: TBD

The nonprofit is still in early talks with potential partners over the basement, which is finished with bathrooms, showers and a kitchen.

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