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Developers Bid For New Manhattan Micro-Units
Manhattan apartment residents looking to settle down in studio apartments can expect a big (or small) surprise now that officials are looking to make these pint-size dwellings even smaller. On Monday Mayor Bloomberg disclosed a real estate proposition that would allow developers to bid for a parking lot in that would be used to construct studio apartments which are, reportedly, going to resemble college dormitories. Guidelines for the innovative project request that 75% of the units in the building be micro-units, measuring between 275 and 300 square-feet. This is a striking change from Manhattan’s usual studio apartments, which estimate around 400 square feet at the smallest. Eliminating the use of hallways, floor plans will consist of a bedroom area that will double as a living room and workspace.
With property prices steadily increasing over the past several years, these miniature studio apartments will financially benefit younger New Yorkers who have had to share rooms with multiple roommates because of $2,000 a month rents for Manhattan apartment. This trend has resulted in the occupation of around 1.8 million people in one and two-person households, but only 1 million in studio and one-bedrooms. “The result is obviously a housing crunch that not only has costly consequences, but also leads to illegally subdivided apartments,” Bloomberg told DNAinfo.com. Officials anxiously await development, which is set to begin in late 2013. Micro-units will ideally make potential studio apartment owners feel part of a vastly growing, high-end community.