It was a beautiful morning in Kips Bay today, when the first modular unit of New York’s first micro unit building was stacked into place. The foundation was already in place at 335 E. 27th Street, and what was once called My Micro NY will now be known as Carmel Place. In 2010, CHPC undertook Making Room, a look into the changing demands of New York City’s housing market. We found that 47% of New Yorkers over 25 do not live with a spouse or partner, and today we see that 1 or 2 person households account for 62% of households in NYC. These findings demonstrated the need to find a newer, and smaller housing solution. With fine attention to design and utilization of all existing space, the units, which are all between 270 and 350 sq feet, are surprisingly livable.
L-R: Perine, Lembo, Kapur, Enderlin, Mendez, Chandler, Oriwol
Tobias Oriwol, Project Developer at Monadnock Development kicked off the event with introductory remarks. Speakers included Eric Enderlin, Deputy Commissioner, NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Purnima Kapur, Executive Director, NYC Department of City Planning, Rick Chandler, Commissioner, NYC Department of Buildings, Rosie Mendez, Councilwomen, NY City Council District 2 and Nick Lembo, Monadnock.
CHPC, executive director, Jerilyn Perine also spoke and championed the potential in building small, “You can create beautiful, small spaces which sacrifice nothing.”
When construction is complete, over the course of the next three weeks, the building will consist of 55 units. 40% of those will be offered at affordable rental rates. While the crowd was wowed by a crane lifting the intact unit into place like a giant Tetris piece, the creative vision and affordable follow through of Carmel Place were the real highlights of the day.
