Minneapolis is not New York. But as the apartment boom continues, some developers are testing the market for smaller units in crowded areas such as Uptown and downtown Minneapolis. The smaller — and cheaper — approach emerging in other metros has been dubbed “micro-units.”
Minneapolis-based CPM Development plans to redevelop the site of the Cheapo music store in Uptown into a mixed-use project with 139 apartments. CPM’s plans call for 50 of those units to be studios ranging from 450 to 480 square feet. Dan Oberpriller, president of CPM Development, says that the pricey Uptown market is awash in one-bedroom units.
“The people who live in Uptown are a little bit priced out,” says Oberpriller. But he says, “this is a little bigger than a micro-unit. I don’t want to be the leader in the micro-unit territory.”
City of Minneapolis zoning code sets the minimum size for efficiency apartments at 350 square feet and 500 square feet for one-bedroom units.
“We are hearing more and more that people want to build what they’re referring to as ‘micro-units,’ ” says Jason Wittenberg, manager of land use, design and preservation for the city’s community planning and economic development department. And, he says, “there does not seem to be a lot of market demand for going less than 350 [square feet].”
Other developers are eyeing cozier projects.
Curt Gunsbury and partners scrapped a North Loop condo plan, switching gears to propose 71 micro-units at the site. Plans submitted to the city in May show many studios ranging from 379 to 441 square feet.
Minneapolis-based Greco and Minnetonka-based Opus Group are pitching a 143-unit project on the site of the ABC industrial warehouse, also in the North Loop. Documents submitted to the city note, “This development will meet a need in the North Loop by offering a greater percentage of studios and alcoves than is typical.”
A recent report from the Washington, D.C.-based Urban Land Institute found that there is no standard definition for what constitutes a micro-unit, but notes that San Francisco and the District of Columbia both allow units as small as 220 square feet.
“Micro-units are a micro-trend,” says Michelle Winters, ULI’s senior visiting fellow for housing. She says that smaller apartments are appealing to renters who want to live in a specific neighborhood, but might not otherwise be able to afford the steep rents.
Says Winters, “Hip and happening neighborhoods . . . also tend to be expensive.”
This article is reprinted in partnership with Twin Cities Business.
A Good Idea
I think this trend is a good idea for people who want to live a more minimalist lifestyle, and who spend most of their free time out and about in their community. There are a lot of active people – young and old – who spend little of their free time in their apartments. Why pay more for the one-bedrooms and bigger if you don’t spend much time at home?
Liberating
This comment is a little askew but taught me how living could be wrapped into a 100 pound bundle. In Fall 2013 I took a solo 1400 mile bicycle ride around Lake Superior. 50 pounds for the bike, racking and other travel components and 50 pounds for tent, sleeping bag, clothes, stove, other travel and emergency essentials and about 3 days of food at a time. For 23 days that was the sum and substance of my material life. It was exhilarating and liberating. Every thing needed, rain or shine, hot to 94 and cold to 28 degrees.
Clearly, a micro to mini apartment is far bigger than a bicycle with panniers. Go for it and the result can be a very simple and rewarding life.
If only they didn’t cost as much per month in rent
as a larger apartment in a different neighborhood.
What will the rent be for these new units? I sincerely hope CPM has cleaned up its act recently because I lived in one of their properties a few years ago and it was a terrible experience.