In July 2012, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) launched adAPT NYC, a pilot program to develop a new model of housing to adapt to the City’s changing demographics. HPD invited developers to submit proposals for the design, construction, and operation of a micro-unit building in a city-owned land, at 335 East 27th Street in Kips Bay, Manhattan. A micro-unit is an innovative apartment model, which includes a kitchen and bathroom, that is smaller than what is allowed under current regulations.
Currently, there are 1.8 million one- and two-person households (more than 60 percent of New York City households) and only one million studios and one-bedrooms to meet this housing demand.
On Tuesday, the city unveiled the winning team of the competition, a partnership between Monadnock Development, Brooklyn-based nARCHITECTS and a nonprofit that serves creative arts professionals, the Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation.
The micro-units will be the size of a hotel room. The winning proposal displayed large windows, Juliet balconies, plenty of storage space, an electric toilet that doubles as a bidet, a Murphy bed, a flat-screen TV that slides to reveal extra shelving and a coffee table-cum-ottoman that deconstructs into four stools. The 10-story tower in Kips Bay will rise thanks to modular construction: units will be prefabricated, then stacked on top of one another like legos.
Forty percent of the units will be affordbale, restricted to tenants earning no more than $77,190 a year, the rest will be at market rate. Rents will start at $914 a month, and will go up to $1,873.
The micro-units are designed to appeal to young professionals, students, but also retirees or nurses from nearby Bellevue Hospital Center.
