According to a report by The Columbus Dispatch, micro-living is coming to Columbus in the form of apartments that start at 307 square feet in size.

“It’s a minimalist way of living,” said Brad DeHays, project developer of Connect Real Estate. “It’s not about a demographic or an age.” The apartments will be housed in four old buildings that used to be the Ohio Finance building, the Gaetz Music House, Cravings Cafe and the Rooming House. Furnished spaces at the Rooming House could be had for $55 a week.

“It was full of debris and trash and mattresses on the floor,” said DeHays, recalling his first visit to the building after he purchased it in 2014. “It was unbelievable conditions people were living in ... it was bad.”

DeHays spent more than $11 million converting the buildings into micro- and one-bedroom apartments above ground-floor retail. Despite the “Microliving” name, DeHays does not consider the apartments true micro-units because they are bigger than 300 square feet. They range in size from 307 square feet to 735 square feet and in price from $929 to $1,289.

“That’s really inexpensive for Downtown Columbus right now,” he said. “Our goal was to provide an affordable product for the city of Columbus.”

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