Inside NYC's first 'micro apartment' building, where 60,000 people have applied to live and a 302 square foot market rate unit costs $2,750 a month
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Jul 26, 2021, 12:48 IST
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.