Micro-apartments are a Macro Hit

Their size has been compared to prison cells. Yet “micro-apartments” have become popular with city planners, real estate developers, and price-conscious renters alike. As space runs out and rent soars in America’s biggest cities, these pint-sized dwellings are getting a lot of attention. The most recent in a string of high-profile news coverage, USA Today ran a story about them just last month. And the winning design for New York City’s first micro-apartment unit was just the centerpiece of the Museum of the City of New York’s “Making Room” exhibit. Meanwhile, developers are steadily breaking ground on micro-apartments, geared mainly toward the young. There will be some roadblocks to their development, but with prices that attract Xers and features that attract Millennials, demand for them should be broad.

So what exactly are these “micro-apartments?” Micro-apartments are tiny—but more affordable—living spaces, smack-dab in the middle of the United States’ most crowded urban areas. They range from around 150 to 300 square feet. To make up for their miniscule size, they boast space-saving features, like drop-down Murphy beds, walls that double as storage facilities, and tables that emerge from the floor. The big sell, of course, is their relatively low rent. In Seattle, for example, a…