We (SimpleTwig Architecture.llc) will show you the character, layout and thinking behind several different rental apartments (this is the third of several articles)
for the Home Owner/Landlord they can incorporate into their own home, each with their own unique challenges. This post is just one of these examples, so please subscribe to see all, each the result of different set of circumstances.
Background Attitude (repeated article to article for reference):
Creating a viable rental apartment means to design an apartment that is functional, nice looking and cost effective to keep rents low enough to not scare prospective renters away. All these factors help tenants in the apartment as well as getting your apartment rented quickly.
It’s a fact that if you make a nice looking apartment you will attract the type of tenant who wants a nice place to live in. This in return means they will take care of your property. The opposite and unfortunate attitude is, ‘I will build the cheapest apartment possible because I expect my tenants to tear it up,’ which results in lower rental income and tenants who don’t care where they live and only need a place to sleep, thus this increases the possibility of a self-fulfilling prophecy that the tenant will NOT take care of the property, and thus the landlord will be making repairs and dealing with high turn-over (also resulting in lost income).
Apartment Case Study No. 3 [one of 3 identical apartments in an old townhouse]
Situated in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, NY, this townhouse owner had inherited this property that was very well used and run down. The interiors really showed their age and the layout was inefficient, old plumbing, poor storage, basically dysfunctional. Fortunately for this owner was his location which was within a block of the metro station and an equal distance to two very large developments along 3rd Street and Smith Street giving him the ideal situation for a full renovation. It was obvious to me that if he maximized his available space he would quickly get good money and good tenants.
In this project the client took my recommendations which included removing an unused chimney in order to fit two legally sized bedrooms on the back side of the building (quiet side), with an open living room/kitchen/dining on the front side of the building. This building, just 20′ x 40′ was tight for 2 bedrooms, but one has to acknowledge that in this type of apartment with the type of tenant who would rent it, would spend most of their time in the living room, thus the bedrooms could and should be as small as possible, not for ‘hanging out’ but only for sleeping with privacy.
This living room featured a built-in island for storage and placement of a LED TV. By offering a tenant this feature they are immediately ready to move in. Of course there was the option they could locate the TV elsewhere in the room.
Hallways are sometimes required, but are essentially wasted space. A good efficient floor plan minimizes this waste as much as possible putting that space into actual rooms. Here it’s required to gain access from the main stair, to closets, bathroom and bedrooms.
While this small apartment offers a space for dining furniture, one has to expect that a tenant would rather use the counter, thus we offer a peninsula as an option.
This kitchen is compact, but complete and functional. For this neighborhood which is filled just down the street with great restaurants and takeouts, one has to admit that most tenants with take advantage of this restaurant row. Given the size of this unit, this kitchen suffices.