The Anti-McMansion
Yesterday, Zahlco’s Yonah Zahler told us he’s doing a new kind of residential development Downtown: smaller apartments with high-end finishes. They’re not micro-units like the 250 SF ones discussed as a design experiment for NYC (where people would rent out your closet if they could), but at 350 SF to 675 SF, they’re smaller than Baltimore’s typical 600 SF to 1,200 SF, Yonah says. Typical Baltimore apartments rent for $18/SF $20/SF, while Zahlco’s lease for $27/SF. By packing luxury amenities into a smaller space with a smarter layout, he can offer high-end units for the same price as a simpler standard-size unit. Yonah tells us he’s never had a vacancy, and rents have risen whenever tenants have rolled.
Above is his 30-unit 613 Portland Ave (above) just northwest of Camden Yards in Ridgley’s Delight. Yonah says these buildings are boutique products—never more than 50 units in one, and each has its own website for maintenance requests, rent payment, and social activities. 16 E Biddle has been full since opening last summer, and he’s got more than 100 more units under construction or planned. 917 St. Paul will deliver in July and already has a waiting list, and 613 Portland, a former kitchen supply manufacturing building, will deliver in the fall with retail.
