IF YOU THOUGHT New York apartments were tiny before, you haven’t seen anything yet.
New York City’s first “micro apartments” development — known as Carmel Place — is set to open in February, according to the New York Times.
Developer Monadnock Development first put forth the project — then known as My Micro NY — in a design contest held in 2013 by the city of New York.
Under city law, dwellings must be no less than 400 square feet, but Carmel Place’s 55 units — which received special permission from then-mayor Michael Bloomberg — will range from 260 to 360 square feet.
The smaller end of that range is nearly half the size of the average studio in Manhattan, which currently sits at 550 square feet, according to a report by Douglas Elliman as noted by the New York Times.
Mondanock was allowed to build his microunits partially as a city experiment, and partially to satisfy the ever-growing demand for affordable housing — allowing the first modular prefab constructed building in New York City to rise in the Manhattan neighborhood of Kip’s Bay.
Here’s what they’re like inside.
The Associated Press got a look inside one of the example units at Carmel Place — a 302 square foot space that will rent for $2,750.
With this amount of space, you can’t really expect a full kitchen. Instead, the kitchens are more like kitchenettes, the refrigerator is tiny and there’s only a two-burner electric stove and no oven. There is, however, a built-in microwave.
Some of the spaces in the building are already furnished with a a pull-down bed, sofa, cabinets and tables. The market-rate units also include Wi-Fi and cable with the rent. Also included is weekly housekeeping by personal butler service startup Hello Alfred.
The ceilings measure 9 feet high and the windows are rather large and slide open to a false balcony.
The bathrooms are big enough to fit a wheelchair, but there’s no tub — a shower stall is all that fits.
The building’s architects wanted the units to feel homey, and so there are also plenty of communal spaces including a gym, a basement lounge with a TV and billiards table, and a roof deck equipped with a grill.
The building is actually modular prefabricated houses — another first for the city. The units were built across the river in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and taken in Manhattan by truck.
The building will open February first. Leasing began in November for the 55-unit building and there have been 20 applications for market-rate units so far.
Twenty-two of the units are designated as affordable, costing up to $1500 a month, and 60,000 New Yorkers have already applied for them. The winners will be announced in January.
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