Colorado Real Estate Journal -

Re-Inventing the 3-Story Walk-Up: Redesigned to Accomodate Gen-Y Renter

Nathan J. Sciarra, Director, KTGY Group Inc.


In 2009, residential architecture had essentially come to a stop. Since we understood what caused the collapse, we knew it was going to be a robust for-rent market in the near future. We had to ask ourselves – what was the most likely type of apartment community that was going to be successful and in what setting? As the most delivered apartment type in the country, with the lowest delivery risk, it was in all likelihood going to be the 3-Story Walk-Up. But, how would the 3-Story Walk-Up evolve? There are two distinct factors that have impacted the reinvention of the 3-Story Walk-Up apartment community. The first was the targeted demographic, and what they would be looking for. The second was the setting or location, which has always been important but was a key factor in understanding what we would see first.

By understanding these two important factors, we could develop something that could be delivered at a relatively low cost, in settings where 3-Story Walk-Ups were not typically seen and with the lowest risk possible to developers.

As we know today, the Gen-Y demographic is the largest portion of renters in the market – the young professionals who don't meet today’s financial requirements to purchase a home or don't want to buy due to the instability of today’s job market. These renters are looking for high-end finishes, high level of community amenities, an affordable price point, and all in the right location. They want to live somewhere that has a sense of place, which provides cutting-edge development and features that promote the ability to have a good work/life balance.

The work/life balance is extremely important to the Gen-Y renter. The Gen-Y renter wants to be somewhere that has easy access to both work and entertainment. They also want access to public transportation, to be located within walking distance or have a very short commute. Some of the best places that lend themselves to these features, while meeting the low-risk qualifications for today’s market, are the urban/suburban communities – places that are not truly downtown, but are close and have their own sub area character and attractions.

The 3-Story Walk-Up has been redesigned to accommodate these various factors.

Today's 3-Story Walk-Up needs to address the suburban/urban setting, be more pedestrian friendly, and focus less on the car and the parking. Unit size has been decreased to help lower the price point. The amenities and creating a sense of neighborhood have become the focus, while still achieving strong densities in order to meet the financial goals of the developer and owner.

In looking at new ways of planning the 3-Story Walk-Up, we’ve brought the building to the back of sidewalk, and devised a way to make the building turn and hold the corner. By doing this, we created an important aspect of maintaining a strong project edge, which also enabled us to further hide the parking in the interior of the site.

To address the pedestrian scale, we connected the buildings to the sidewalk with stairs up to unit balconies and designed slightly grander features up to the building entrances. We’ve created interior private community roads with parallel parking along both sides, which allows residents to park right outside their front door creating convenient parking adjacencies and a sense of place.

The architecture of the 3-Story Walk-ups is adaptable to all architectural styles. We have had great success in producing both contemporary and traditional elevation styles.

Today's 3-Story
Walk-Up needs
to address the
suburban/urban
setting, be more
pedestrian
friendly, and
focus less on
the car and the
parking.




We’re seeing a combination of pitched and flat roofs. Unit sizes are averaging in the low 700-square-foot range with predominantly one-bedroom, one-bath units with a smaller percentage of studios and two bedrooms. The unit design is wider and more shallow in nature, allowing a lot of light deeper into the unit than what we have traditionally seen.

We are including tuck-under garages, which provides not only an additional income source, but also allows us to meet the parking demands of higher density projects. We are getting in the 30-35 du/acre on average with the KTGY's KYGen-Y copyrighted concepts, parking at 1.5-1.6 spaces per unit and, for some projects, reaching north of 40 du/acre.

Looking at the shifting dynamics of the market, it was certainly time for some things to change; to provide places to live that better reflect the desired lifestyle and provide the locations and amenities that are in demand by today's renters.

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