Furniture Retailers Take On Micro Apartment Market

Micro apartments – long a staple in dense urban cities like New York and San Francisco – are increasingly pushing over into secondary markets, a phenomenon that’s partially driven by demand for more flexible housing options in the wake of COVID-19.

“Micro-units allow an individual the opportunity to live either independently or with a roommate at a price point that otherwise doesn’t exist for the location and level of quality that is being provided,” Josh Delk, vice president at Transwestern Development Co., tells GlobeSt.com.

SoPhi, a new project in the Twin Cities from developer North Bay Companies and owner/investor John Wolf, is one such development. The five-level building features 48 furnished micro-units ranging in size from 460 to 547 square feet.

The apartments’ small footprint makes them difficult to furnish with conventional furniture, but Wolf thought outside the box for solutions, tapping Resource Furniture to create sofa wall beds and modular bookshelves that allow units’ sleeping nooks to transform into living rooms.

“Residents love the building, especially the flexibility in the lease terms and the furniture,” says Wolf. “The wall beds have been so helpful in the lease process, especially when residents are only renting for a few months and have everything in storage–it’s a big selling point. They also like that the beds rid the unit of static space, making the room look and feel much bigger.”

Earlier this week, Resource Furniture opened one of its largest showrooms in Seattle, one of the leading cities for micro-housing developments.