Mayor Bloomberg ignited a contest Monday to stimulate development of extremely small apartments called micro units. They are intended to be used by young singles willing to place themselves into such uncomfortable living arrangements.
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The new closet-like flats will range from just 275 to 300 square feet (photo above shows Bloomberg on a floor model of a micro unit). They are larger than a jail cell, but smaller than a mobile home, and they’ll have special permission to ignore city rules requiring newly built apartments to exceed 400 square feet, according to the Daily News.
Bloomberg said:
“The city’s demographics have changed, it used to be the average household was a family, a couple of adults and some children.”
That meant that the city was filled with larger dwellings, leaving just one million studios and one bedrooms, which is not nearly enough for the 1.8 million one and two-person households.
At a news conference Monday, the mayor announced a contest seeking a developer for about 80 micro units at a city-owned parking lot on E. 27th St. in Kips Bay.
The mini-studios will be just big enough for a bathroom, kitchen and sleeping and dining areas.
Real estate experts said young college grads would snap up the apartments, but that depends on the price. City officials said they would be less than $2,000 a month.
Jared Guy Rudolph of the CORE Group says:
“There definitely will be a demand for it.”
If you’re looking to move into one of the micro units, Janel Laban, executive editor of apartmenttherapy.com, recommends lots of lighting and freeing up floor space with hanging shelves.
Would you live in one of these tiny apartments?
