apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

In NYC, it would not be possible to sell a condo without a kitchen as the DOB would not issue a CO without atleast a stove/range.

Well, from 1990 to 1993, I had a studio apartment in Chelsea that was 7 feet wide and I'm not sure how long -- I think about 18 feet or so, and it had what people told me was a Pullman kitchen. It was basically a closet that had a janitor sink and this Charlie Chaplin era-looking 2-burner stove with a tiny oven in it that sat atop a very small refrigerator, and there were cabinets above it.

I have photographs of that, which I'll be glad to share with you, because it was a very tiny space and yet pretty efficient. But it did have a loft-bed all the way across the width of the end of the room, dividing the only window into an upper half and a lower half, and it did have a decently high ceiling so you could sit up in bed. I had a desk underneath with my computer (with an amber screen, please) there.

My television was situated so that I was able to point the cable remote at the mirrors on the closet doors of the Pullman kitchen and watch the TV backwards from bed. The pictures I took of how great it looked make it look huge compared how it really was.

I don't cook much, so that much kitchen was kind of plenty for me. However, after 3 years I did have to move, because the whole place was just too small.

That said... if you really want to make these spaces without kitchens, and if the code allows for it, do it. Because there might be enough people who don't cook at all to sell them to. How much less infrastructure you would have to deal with, then. But seriously, people will STILL want to make popcorn, etc.

For YOUR development, perhaps all the apartments should have dumb-waiters (sort of a tiny freight elevators), possibly some sort of a pneumatic tube thing, going from a diner on the first floor, so it will be kind of like room service, where they order stuff online through a special website you have just for building residents.

Anyway, my very tiny apartment was a rental. But you're talking about condos. I'm not sure that there are quite enough people who are in the market to buy will actually be interested in essentially potentially committing their lives to that kind of monasticism. You're going to have to really make keep in mind that a lot of people will want to buy them to rent out, which very well may set all the residents up for living in a very transient environment.

I think that if it's going to work at all, you're going to have to design these places as furnished places and offer them that way.

Because when I sold my last apartment, I had it so optimally set up that my guests, and importantly, visitors to the open house were blown away at how efficiently everything was set up. Because of picking up not-yet-forwarded mail from my gracious Buyer, I ended up seeing the space afterward and was saddened to see what a hard time he was having managing that small space to his life.

So, I'd say that you should either hire an architect who designs small yachts to help with this project, or hire some of the people in the apartment contest to help design all of that or hire me to help your architect, since codes will probably require you hire a real one.

Let me know where to upload or send the photographs of that old tiny Chelsea apartment if you're curious.

Question - How do the judges in the smallest/coolest contest judge? Is it based on their opinions of the entries? On the number or proportion of votes? As a creative person who knows way too much about statistics, I can see a number of interesting possibilities for weighting the vote tallies.

Curtis, that idea with the dumb waiters is genius. I think a lot of singles/college students might be interested. If you offer a lot of high tech/modern perks, like Curtis' ideas, I think people would be game.

Cilla -

Thank you! It's not entirely my idea. The last apartment building was a former hotel, and lore had it that the tiny kitchens were really butler's pantries, and that it was really all about a dumb waiter at one time. Dunno if that's true, but it captured my imagination. And there was apparently a restaurant where there is now a Starbucks.

Aaron -

After that long thing I said above, it got me started thinking about a floor plan of a very interesting kind of room for that development, but it would be kind of a strange, albeit beautiful building. I'm not an architect, so you'd have to have one of those guys actually flesh it out, but I think it might as well be interesting, if it's gonna be small.

Hi. I'm with Curtis in suggesting you think about hiring an architect who specializes in yachts or maybe even those little buses that people use as --oh, now I remember the proper term--RVs!

If you want to be humane, please, please don't do an NYC-type dumpy place where people have to struggle to make it livable or even palatable. I've been thinking of finding a place where yachts or RVs go to die to find stuff for my apartment because normal furniture is almost impossible to incorporate.

With the size you're contemplating, unless you offer a good plan and some built-ins and adequate storage, your tenants will be forced, as I am, to eat on the coffee table and do their work on the bed. Forget about crafts or doing any artwork!

BTW. If anyone reading this knows where yachts and RVs go to die, would you drop me a line? Thanks.

Best of luck on your development but please please keep the humanity of your tenants in mind and offer them a place that you yourself would live in.

There's a broker with "Bapple"(???) on craigslist who has been listing the same Nolita condo for over a year now. Square footage isn't mentioned in the ad but I'm guessing from pix it must be tiny. I really wonder why it hasn't sold yet.

all the studios were for sale in the building that bapple real estate had an exclusive on and they were being sold one at a time. I should have bought one last year, they are small but the prices have gone up considerably with the market.

Curtis,

Great discription sounds like it has been a while since chelsa? if so do you know if they have done changes to the size or upgraded the same?? Just went from converting an historic building to 5000 to 8000 sq. foot manor homes with 30 foot ceilings to a 30 suite 1 bedroom condo's in the downtown overlooking the harbor around 675 sq. foot each. the bedroom has a queen bed, night stands on either side as well as 4 feet of closet and 4 foot of space in front of the bed.
There will be a 32 inch flat screen on the wall. The bathroom has a 5 foot granite vanity, separate glass shower, 2 person soaker tub flatscreen tv and built in stereo sound. you can see the TV on the commode, in the shower or the 2 person tub, the floors are heated and the bathroom area is around 110 sq. ft. there is a washer/ dryer behind a closet in the entrance hall as well as a small home office 5x7 behind a pocket door. there is also in the entrance a 5 foot closet. the kitchen has a 2 foot wide by 6 feet high stainless fridge as well as a under counter oven and counter top 4 burner stove with over head microwave all in stainless and black granite tops. the kitchen/living/dining room are 12 wide by 22 feet deep with all season fireplace and 42 inch plasma. the space looks large so far with the walls up. we will be furnishing all the suites and will be adding a spa to the building and a roof height concrete heated floor patio 1500 sq. ft with 4 hot tubs. we are in st. john's newfoundland canada around a 4 hour 30 minutes non stop flight to chelsa as we are in the north atlantic, there will be nothing nicer then to look over the harbor in the middle of a winters night with the snow coming down.
you will be pleased to know that there is a lift as well as gourmet meals that can be ordered requiring only a little heat. there is a 24 hour atendant. it is expected to open in late fall. i know this is no where near the size of a chelse flat and would love to know how long ago you lived there and if they redesigned as your discription of your flat as well as your suggestions were well worded.
regards kevin

curtis,
thought chelsea london just noticed it is chelsae new york. which is 2 hour 30 minutes away.
regards kevin

Curtis,

Not entirely sure, but I believe there were a lot available in Williamsburg, Brooklyn last time I checked. Check out www.therealdeal.com for more information on what you're looking for, they usually have their finger on the pulse of what's available around manhattan.

Regards,
Nate

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