The micro-units are estimated to go for $1,300 to $1,500 a month. The average studio apartment in San Francisco rents at $2,075 a month, according to real estate service RealFacts.
“It’s not a lot of space for $1,500,” Campos said, adding that he was concerned it could raise rents across the city. “If 220 square feet is going to rent for $1,500, what does that do for the rest of the places in San Francisco?”
Supervisor John Avalos was the lone vote against the proposal, arguing that the city should be more focused on keeping families from moving.
“This doesn’t make a lot of sense for the San Francisco I know,” he said.
Mayor Ed Lee, who still must sign the measure, told reporters after his monthly question-time session before the board that he hadn’t taken a position on micro-apartments yet…
The micro-apt idea is ridiculous. They are nothing but glorified hotel rooms. One can just rent a(n older) hotel room by the month there and work out a deal. Yes, the older hotels there have kitchenettes. The 330 sf version of the “micro-apt” has two twin bed heads separated by a five foot wall. LOL. There are no doors to these beds and they are out in the open visible from everyday living space. How is this “private” for individuals who can’t afford to live alone? It’s like a college dorm room, lol….
The average apt (flat) size in SF is 1750-1800 sf. They did not build them small back in the day. A renter gets a lot of bang for the buck, ESP if they have a view 🙂
“Enterprising” tenants in SF can trade labor and offer to not bother the LL except in cases of emergency in exchange for a multi-year long-term lease of below-market rent. These LL’s can do this because their bldg(s) are frequently paid off and they have low property taxes. Most of them still live in the city so manage their units themselves. But they want to be able to freely travel without having to worry about tenant problems or pay mgmt fees. So they make these kinds of deals to stable tenants who take care of the premises and will never move. This is commonplace.
It is also not uncommon to find a 4 br, 2 ba rental flat in SF of over 2000 sf. Therefore, a tenant could feasibly have 3 roommates to help them with rent.
Whoever is paying “$2075 mo” for the “average studio apt” in SF is a fool …. that is unless that studio is 900+ sf …. also not uncommon.
As usual, the “whole story” is not getting told in this article. SF is a “special” market with “special” properties not found anywhere else in the country. It has always had a “captive audience” of renters/buyers and this will never change.
That “micro apt” idea will surely fail. No one wants to live like that permanently and certainly not if sharing a room with an unrelated roommate. That’s too much money to spend converting viable rental units into micro spaces which won’t have any value (except as hotel rooms) in the years to come.
nsr: here is a link to hotels with large rooms and kitchenettes where one can stay by the day, week or month:
