Was the Chitose class designed for carrier conversion?

Does the Chitose class's carrier-division assignment and later conversion prove that the ships were designed from the start to become carriers?

It makes deliberate convertibility plausible, but does not conclusively prove a documented original carrier-conversion plan.

Incomplete Japanese wartime records make convertibility easier to infer than original intent. Seaplane tenders naturally belonged to carrier administration, while their stores, fuel arrangements, and eventual conversions support the probability that future conversion was considered. The conversions came relatively late, when suitable air groups were already scarce. The evidence therefore separates ships demonstrably planned for conversion from ships whose design made conversion possible and likely contemplated.