INSIDE
by Michelle Z. Askeland
Apartments are getting smaller
and the mix of units is getting less
diverse as the multifamily market
tries to balance demand from popu-
lation growth with relatively stag-
nant income growth.
“Rents have grown much more
quickly than income, so renters are
stretched,” said Cary Bruteig with
Apartment Appraisers & Consul-
tants. “To help renters get in a new
unit, we’re building ones they can
afford – both smaller units with a
total lower monthly rent and proper-
ties with more studios and one-bed-
rooms, probably because people still
prefer to live by themselves.”
In general, this cycle has seen
at least 200 to 250 square feet
knocked off the average unit size
from the last building cycle in the
early 2000s, said Terrance Hunt, vice
chairman with ARA Newmark.
In the past six years, 69 new mul-
tifamily properties contained studio
floor plans, according to Apart-
ment Insights LLC. In the previous
decade, from 2000 to 2009, only
33 new properties included studio
floor plans.
The trend to get smaller has a lot
to do with market demand. Driving
this demand is the demographic
moving to Denver, led by millenni-
als. Other important factors range
from new efficiencies in building
and operating apartments to rent-
ers’ desire to live alone in urban
areas. Pair this shrinking household
size with the challenges facing
those trying to enter the for-sale
housing market and the results are
people living in apartments much
longer than previous generations.
Microunits
For all these reasons, the demand
for more affordable housing options
located in vibrant, urban environ-
ments is attracting developers and
renters to the microunit concept.
The pitch is that renters can live
where they want to live in nice, new
buildings at a considerably lower
rate than they’d pay for a studio or
one-bedroom in the surrounding,
traditional new Class A buildings.
One developer leading the way
Photo courtesy Boutique Apartments/Nichols Partnership
Demand for Turntable Studio’s 167 microunits, measuring 339 square feet, helped the Jefferson Park complex lease up in less than eight months as renters forgo space for place.
