How Small Can Philly Multifamily Go?

A national trend towards micro apartments isn’t leaving Philly out of the picture. The Avenir, just a block from City Hall and Avenue of the Arts, will be the newest benchmark in efficiency living in Center City. (Until we all just live in stackable pods.)

Alterra Property managing partner Leo Addimando tells us the former office building at 15th and Chestnut is being remade into 180 apartments, and while they’ll be marketed as luxury rentals, they include an attractive entry price—half the units will be priced at $1,500 or less. He says Millennials are willing to occupy smaller spaces when the right amenities are provided (in this case, a doorman, a fitness center, media room, conference rooms and a lounge). Half the Avenir’s units will be one-bedroom units ranging from 525 SF to 650 SF, and some studios will be as small as 320 SF. (You'll need to make some hard decisions about which posters to keep.) 

The conversion (above) brings 150k SF of Class-B space off of Philly’s office market. But with job numbers starting to grow, Leo thinks that straight residential conversions in Center City have passed a tipping point. Aside from a few projects under way or rumored to be in the works—he cites Post Brothers’ Atlantic Building conversion and Keystone Property’s bringing residential to Curtis Center—the office-to-residential conversion trend is likely on the wane.

That means thinking creatively about properties to adapt—and not just downtown. In traditional homeowner neighborhoods like South Philly, school buildings do the trick; it was the old Annunciation School where Alterra just opened the 45-unit Wharton Street Lofts. These conversions are convenient, he says, as classroom sizes usually correspond to apartments and a gym or auditorium can get a new life as a lounge or common area. Wharton Street Lofts also feature some literally old-school elements, among them teacher storage cabinets reused as closets. (Just watch out for the ghost of the lunch lady.)

And while you won’t find an auditorium at Wharton Street, you will find a surprise waiting on the roof. Through a stormwater management grant from the Philadelphia Water Department, Alterra installed a 15k SF green roof for collecting and managing rain water and managing building temperatures. Should we expect more green roofs in apartment buildings? Leo says that Philly is a national leader in storm water management, so it's likely that more and more property owners will get on board and take advantage of lower utility bills.