Posted by Leonard Steinberg on January 22nd, 2013
As New York real estate becomes less and less affordable for most, the City is announcing today the winner of its “micro-apartment” contest, which challenged architects to create affordable homes for single New Yorkers — some as small as 250 square feet. The Museum of the City of New York will showcase a walk-through version of one by architect Amie Gross that meets all codes and regulations. The apartment includes a tub, a pull-down bed in the living room, and a pull-out table and refrigerator in the kitchen. It also includes an eco-friendly way to filter air and save on air conditioning and connect the apartment to the green around it, cutting down on utility bills.
Mayor Bloomberg announced the contest in July, and 33 proposals had been submitted by the September deadline. Finalists include Dattner Architects and the Durst Organization; the developer Monadnock; Grimshaw Architects; and Jonathan Rose Companies. Dattner’s model calls for 300-square-foot units in a building with a gym, bike storage, rooftop terrace and a cafe on the ground floor.
The winners of the contest — dubbed adAPT — will develop 50 micro-units in a pilot project on a city-owned site at 335 E. 27th Street in Kips Bay. Each apartment has to be between 250- and 370-square-feet large. The cost will be determined by the team that wins — but the city determined that it must be affordable. So if condominiums are selling for around $ 1,500-2,000/sf should we expect one of these units to sell for $450,000.00 to $ 600,000.00? WOW! Thats affordable!
Some developers were put off by the bevy of city regulations: the city wasn’t sure what they wanted to do, so they heaped on a lot of requirements. If anyone has ever tried to build or renovate they would be aware of the vast array of rules, regulations and limitations the City applies to its building code, a code that seems to change weekly. Some of the code items are absurd to say the least, but thats your government abusing its role, an important one for sure……yet some officials get carried away and obviously that hurts everyone.