Small wonder
Squeezy does it for Manhattan micro-apts.
THE CITY’S first apartment building with mini-units is ready for Big Apple tenants.
City officials joined Monadnock Development and the Lower East Side People’s Mutual Housing Association to celebrate the completion of Carmel Place on Thursday.
The 55-micro-unit project at 335 E. 27th St. in Kips Bay was launched after a 2013 city competition to look into new ways to find affordable housing for the booming population of one- and two-person households. That category represents about 63% of the city’s renters, records show.
The apartments are between 260 and 360 square feet. Ceilings are 9 feet high.
The units also include 8-feet-high windows, a Murphy bed, some small storage spaces with an open kitchen.
“Why should New Yorkers have fewer options than people who live in Hong Kong or San Francisco?” said Kirk Goodrich, vice president and director of real estate development for Monadnock.
“Interest in the building has been off the chart,” he added.
Goodrich and the de Blasio administration believe that the micro-units will help alleviate the housing crunch.
“We see this as a template for the future,” said Alicia Glen, the city’s deputy mayor for housing and economic development.
Dario Luciano, 39, a Navy veteran and fashion designer, was overjoyed to become one of the building’s first tenants.
“I love it here,” he said. “I was in the Navy for 14 years. When I came to New York I fell on hard times and ended up living on the streets.”
Now, he’s got an apartment to call his own.
“Different agencies helped me,” he said. “It’s great. I can pull my bed up if I want to read. I pull it down to go to sleep. There’s room for everything.”
But there’s no room mess.
“You have to be really organized to live here,” he laughed.
Councilwoman Rosie Mendez noted that she was skeptical at first but supported the project after 15% of the units were set aside for homeless veterans.
“I can’t tell you how close I came to voting this down,” Mendez said.
The building also has a gym, a club room, resident lounge and an outdoor terrace. The rent runs from $600 a month and up, renters and organizers said. for