Defying imagination are news reports that already up to 60 000 New Yorkers have flocked in a bid to live in the upcoming NYC micro apartments (think 300 sq feet) making their way as a possible solution to the city’s nascent housing shortage crises.
With one new development, known as Carmel Place (in Manhattan’s dreary Kip’s Bay) set to open in February 2016, according to a report via the nytimes, applicants can boast of living in supine 302 square foot lodgings for the lofty price of $3000.
That said developer Monadnock Development has told it will be offering 22 (out of the 55 coming to market) of you very lucky applicants, ‘affordable’ housing units set at different rates based on income and need. Prospective tenants applying through a lottery may end paying anywhere from $1000 to $1500. 60,000 people applied. I’ll let you figure out the odds of landing a price adjusted apartment for yourselves.
The offerings set to range from 260 sq feet to 360 sq feet come as part of an initiative devised by former Billionaire Mayor Mike Bloomberg in what Monadnock have billed as part of a city experiment, along with an attempt to ‘partially’ satisfy the ever-growing demand for affordable housing.
Yes kids I am crying in stupor. Crying for that prime 600 square loft, 20 foot ceilings I once inhabited inside a converted Williamsburg factory back in 2004 for a measly $600.
The initiative comes after developers got city land and a waiver from New York’s 400-square-foot minimum on new apartments, set in 1987.
Developers explain that the prefabricated NYC micro apartments were built in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, delivered by truck over the Manhattan Bridge before finally being assembled on site in Kips Bay.
Kitchenettes are outfitted with mini-refrigerators, two-burner electric stovetops and microwaves in lieu of ovens (camping trip anyone?) Bathrooms are large enough to accommodate a wheelchair, but have stall showers instead of bathtubs. To boot, beds swing out of the way into a hidden vertical compartment, turning your bedroom into a must have living room by day. Some apartments will even come furnished, including bed, sofa, cabinets and tables.
While the smallest units at Carmel Place are about half the size of an average studio in Manhattan, which was 550 square feet in October (with median rent at $2555), according to a report by Douglas Elliman, the question remains whether New Yorkers will take to the new initiative?
The median rent during the same period was $2,555, about the starting rent at Carmel Place.
Reflected Jonathan J. Miller, the president of the Miller Samuel real estate appraisal firm: ‘There’s all this concern and wondering, ‘Is it going to be accepted?’
‘But it’s really not about the physical size, it’s about how they’re priced.’
Adding: ‘It’s like buying a Prius, it’s a niche,’
‘This is one of those things that the market will determine ultimately whether or not they’re accepted.’
Which begs the question- will you be moving into your very own NYC micro apartment or will you just suck it up and continue living with room mates or even perhaps dare move to a new city (outside of the majors, excluding some parts of Los Angeles) where you can still be the master of your fate at a much more affordable rate …
Welcome to America, where your living standard continues to denigrate as you peddle faster on the hamster wheel ….
