Industrial buildings are often treated as disposable—torn down and rebuilt when market needs change. But this “scrape and replace” mindset carries a massive embodied‑carbon cost. Project Nexus, a 266,640‑square‑foot redevelopment in San Leandro, CA, offers a counter‑narrative: with the right approach, aging industrial stock can become a powerful climate tool rather than a barrier to progress. This session tells the story of how the Nexus team transformed a 1960s light‑industrial complex into a future‑ready, people‑centric, LEED Platinum‑designed facility while achieving substantial embodied‑carbon reductions compared to a typical new build. By reusing major structural and enclosure elements, optimizing the slab, integrating low‑carbon concrete, using cross‑laminated timber, and replacing new concrete façades with insulated metal panels, the team reduced upfront carbon by an estimated 40%+, depending on the baseline scenario. But the real takeaway is how the team made it possible. Early collaboration between structural engineers, sustainability specialists, and material suppliers created a shared carbon‑reduction roadmap. Decisions were made when they mattered most—during concept and schematic design—supported by life‑cycle assessment, procurement alignment, and transparent communication with Prologis’ internal stakeholders. The session provides a behind‑the‑curtain look at what it takes to make adaptive reuse work in an industrial context: navigating incomplete drawings, integrating reused components with modern performance standards, balancing carbon savings against constructability, and designing for both durability and tenant experience. Attendees will leave with a clear sense of how reuse‑first thinking can become standard practice—and how industrial redevelopment can shift from being a climate liability to a climate asset.