Going Small is the New Biggest Trend: Micro-living in Miami
October 15, 2016The studio, the efficiency and now the micro units – Apartments in major US cities are embracing a new development trend where smaller is greater, and in for the most part, cheaper. Space saving and efficient Micro-units have become a viable solution for many developers in addressing limited inventory, space to build in urban centers and high demand for rental affordability from the city’s growing population.
Miami’s recent influx of young professionals, millennials and creative and hospitality workers are overwhelmingly priced-out of the luxury condo market, and even studio rentals, once the more affordable choice, have increased in price well over a thousand dollars per month. For this reason the micro living concept is a growing residential trend throughout Greater Miami.
In Miami, Moishe Mana developer of Mana Wynwood has submitted plans for a 49-story, apartment tower in downtown Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood, of which Miami’s first micro-units located on the lower levels, would take up about a third of the 328 luxury condos. An Arquitectonica-designed condo building, Wynwood 29, by Related Group and Metro 1 Development would also include micro-size units ranging in size from 416 to 892 square feet. According to reports, a high number of the units, approximately 142, are expected to be less than 650 square feet.
On Miami Beach micro-unit rooms have been planned by New York developer Lightstone Group for the seven-story hotel located at 947-955 Washington Avenue. The 204 rooms ranging in size from 220 keys to 618 keys, under the Marriott’s Moxy hotel brand, will be designed by architect Kobi Karp.
A microapartment, also known as a microflat, is a one-room, self-contained living space with mostly built in furniture, furnished kitchens some without ovens, and extensive amenities. Since there’s no standard definition across the board, the layout of a micro unit, its size and design will attribute to its description. Many agree that a micro-unit measures somewhere between 250 and 400 square feet with variables in-between. Miami’s 21 zoning code requires living units to be at least 400 square feet although micro-units are usually smaller.
