According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Starcity, a co-living startup has cooked up plans to start construction on over 1000 new homes in San Jose and San Francisco next year. The tiny spaces will offer shared kitchens and living rooms. Half of the units will be designated as affordable and will be available to tenants making up to 80 percent of the area median income. Google is planning a large office campus in the same area which is slated to open in 2021.
Starcity and other co-living providers like Common and WeWork’s WeLive division are betting that residents will live in smaller rooms but also pay a premium for access to shared spaces and a built-in social network. The model is reminiscent of college dorms and single-room-occupancy hotelswith shared bathrooms, a longtime refuge for low-income San Franciscans. The difference is Starcity’s spaces are brand-new, and it’s pouring millions of dollars in renovations and new construction.
Rents aren’t cheap. Tenants of Starcity pay $1,500 to $2,000 per month to rent a single room ranging from 180 to 220 square feet. Around 10 to 20 tenants share kitchens and living rooms. (One-bedroom apartments where you can have those amenities to yourself in San Francisco rent for more than $3,000.)
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