Editorial: The micro-apartment trend and the suburbs
Is it a dorm? An extended-stay rental? A subsidized housing unit? A WeLive clone? An SRO? A senior apartment?
It's hard to know what to make of the micro-apartments development that won Naperville City Council approval this month as a way to repurpose the old Regency Inn motel on Ogden Avenue.
At 300 square feet, the apartments aren't going to be luxury living.
Each would be about twice the size of a parking space, seven times the size of a king mattress and, well, about the size of an average motel room.
We're not opposed to the concept, especially in Naperville. Just 3,778 of the city's 50,410 housing units are considered "affordable," the Illinois Housing Development Authority reports. The city is supposed to inform the state by June how it's addressing that lack of housing, and the micro-apartments no doubt will be part of the plan.
The devil is in the details, and a lot of them remain to be worked out - including whether the existing building will be rehabbed or torn down and replaced.
Developer MZ Capital Partners pitched an apartment building with common areas, a coworking space, a lounge, a fitness center and free bike rentals. That style of living, often modeled after WeWork and its WeLive developments, is popular in hot urban neighborhoods with skyrocketing rent and a young, transient population. But will it work on Ogden Avenue?
The focus was on senior tenants during a City Council meeting earlier this month. The developer pledged universal design elements, and members of Naperville's senior task force are supportive. They see a need, though it dismays us that affordable senior housing comes down to a 10-by-30 foot space.
As for that affordability, developers didn't specify rent but noted studio apartments in Naperville go for $1,190 a month including utilities and that some tenants are expected to qualify for housing assistance. Those who don't would need an annual income of nearly $48,000 to afford such a rent, using the standard rubric of devoting 30 percent of income on housing. It's far above what a minimum wage earner makes.
That's not the fault of this developer, but it's something for Naperville and other suburbs to consider.
Will micro living translate to the suburbs and what will it look like?
We'll watch with interest as the details emerge and the micro-apartment development takes shape, and we're sure other suburbs will be watching, too.