Why more architects are becoming real estate developers

The six-unit loft conversion underway at 62 Reade Street in New York’s Tribeca neighborhood has the dual benefit of good bones and a good backstory. A combination of two historically landmarked 19th century Italianate structures, it was previously owned by a couple who ran a clock factory on its lower floors while living in a residence they’d created by tearing down the walls between the two buildings’ top floors. It’s the kind of building that would be irresistible to a design-centric...