As the city of Boston incentivizes developers to turn offices into affordable housing, former educational buildings also are candidates worthy of conversion. But getting the go-ahead isn’t an easy task.
When Joe Favale moved into his East Boston condo in 1988, the Boston police officer already was familiar with the space. He went to school there.
“I had nightmares once in a while because I was sleeping in my fourth-grade classroom,” said Favale, 73, who is now retired from the force.
Perched in Eastie’s Eagle Hill neighborhood, the former Sheridan Elementary School served neighborhood residents like Favale, who attended kindergarten through fifth grade there. In the 1980s, it was converted into condos, and that’s when Favale moved in. It wasn’t a sentimental connection to his childhood that attracted Favale to buy the unit, however…