Co-living startup Starcity announced that it is building two ground-up co-living developments in the Bay Area: one in San Francisco and one in San Jose.
Together, the projects will bring 1070 units to the Bay Area.
"Both projects will bring to fruition a concept we've been working on since we founded Starcity–vertical neighborhoods. Our goal is to make urban living accessible to all, and by developing large co-living projects like Minna and Bassett, we're able to create neighborhoods within each development, fostering community in high-density urban areas," Starcity Co-Founder and CEO Jon Dishotsky said in a statement.
"Both projects will accommodate not just single people, but couples, families and event multi-generational families, helping Starcity serve a more diverse group of people who want to remain in urban centers," Dishotsky added.
In cost-burdened areas like the Bay Area, extra-high-density co-living projects are a breath of fresh air, and the fact that this young company was able to take on two ground-up projects in two of the most expensive markets in the nation is proof positive that someone, maybe many someones, have faith in this model.
"To truly make an impact on the housing deficit in California, we need to look to developments that serve both low-income and middle-income residents, especially in our core urban centers near public transit," said State Senator Scott Wiener, author of SB 35, a law which will be used to streamline the San Francisco project, said in a statement.
"A solution like Starcity can help provide critically needed housing at scale and help cities like San Francisco and San Jose retain our middle-class families and workforce. I am proud that this development, with a large percentage of affordable housing, will be streamlined by SB 35," he added.
The co-living model seems to be the hot oddity in the multifamily realm of late, and firms have been experimenting with the model in markets around the U.S. So far, it appears to be popular, but it remains to be seen if it will last and if it does what degree of market share it will command.
