Builders are going smaller with apartments, banking on a lure of tiny studios among the 20-something crowd.
As rents have skyrocketed over the past few years, particularly in coastal cities, some developers responded with offerings of smaller and less pricey apartments. But now they’re realizing some renters will even pay a premium even when space is tight. As such, in big and small cities—like Milwaukee, Cleveland, Detroit, and Kansas City, Mo.—more developers reportedly are offering apartments that are 350 square feet, even less.
The micro apartments usually come fully furnished and have amenities such as maid service. They also boast common spaces, like community gardens, that set out to foster a greater sense of community in a building.
A Pittsburgh developer is offering tiny studios in a building called Ollie at Baumhaus for more than $1,500 a month. The space is tight, which means the bed also must double as a couch. Yet, the average apartment rent in Pittsburgh is $979 a month, so renters will be paying a premium to live smaller. The building, which will open in June, will also feature three-bedroom units that are designed to be shared by roommates.
“Young people today seem to be able to group together,” says John Hoffman, a partner at UC-B Properties, which is developing a 50-unit building in Kansas City, Mo., that will offer 300-square-foot flats that can be shared with a roommate. Hoffman says the units are modeled after a cruise ship cabin.
Source: “Builders Bet Tiny Apartments Will Lure Renters,” The Wall Street Journal (April 15, 2017)
