Co-living properties are growing in popularity and scope.
According to a feature by Christopher Mims in The Wall Street Journal, communities that plan out residents’ social lives and take care of all the little time wasting adult annoyances that pull at their attention after they punch out are fast carving out a niche for themselves in the multifamily market.
Alta+ is one such community in New York, and it is not unlike a dorm in its function and social structure.
Residents pay $1,800 a month for a 98-square-foot space with a Murphy bed, a host of cleaning services and social programming. The community even has the equivalent of a resident assistant know as a “community manager.”
The value-add is that though residents are paying a premium for less space, they feel they are getting a better deal because they are saving time, energy and money on chores and social planning.
According to Mims, developers are sinking hundreds of millions of dollars into building or reimagining properties around the co-living model. These developers typically partner with the likes of Ollie, Common, Starcity, Podshare, or WeWork’s WeLive to help them bridge the gap between traditional multifamily practices and the new-fangled co-living style of multifamily.
Could this be the future of multifamily in high-density areas? Or is it just a flash in the pan? Only time will tell.
