Since November, Stage 3 Properties—which designs, markets, and manages rental properties in partnership with developers and investors—has been leasing Ollie at Carmel Place, a 55-unit building that is New York City’s first micro-unit multifamily development, with apartments ranging from 260 to 360 sf.
Stage 3’s “Ollie” platform offers renters the option of fully-furnished studios and shared suites, as well as access to amenities in nearby facilities that include work spaces, juice bars, pools, gyms, spas, and lounges. Ollie will even help renters find suitable roommates through its Bedvetter service.
The “all-inclusive” experience that Ollie is marketing also includes hotel-like services such as housekeeping. This week, Stage 3 announced the signing of a multiyear agreement with Hello Alfred, a personal butler and on-demand concierge service that, starting next month, renters at Carmel Place can sign up for and access through a mobile app.
Hello Alfred is a weekly subscription service that sends a background-vetted “Home Manager” to a renter’s home to take care of basic house cleaning (bed making, kitchen cleanup, etc.), laundry, dry cleaning, clothing and shoe repair, package shipping, and grocery shopping. The service starts at $32 per week.
Ollie is now Hello Alfred’s sole micro-unit partner, and charges for the services provided are already included in the quoted rents for residents.
Alfred’s CEO, Marcela Sapone, told BloombergBusiness that customers at other apartment buildings have used the service for everything from organizing receipts and meeting a cable repair person to refilling a Koi pond. If the helper isn’t able to tackle a particular job—such as plumbing or professional cleaning—he or she will find someone who can for the renter.
Monadnock Development assembled Ollie Carmel Place with factory-built modules for the micro apartments. The building in New York will be ready for renters to move into in the first quarter of 2016. Photo courtesy Monadnock Development.
Rents at Carmel Place run up to $3,150 per month, but 22 apartments are more affordably leased. “Carmel Place is a perfect fit for Ollie,” Chris Bledsoe, Stage 3’s Founding Partner, told Curbed NYC. “With 40% of the units allocated to low- and middle-income New Yorkers, the message of ‘inclusiveness’ is already an integral part of the community and the experience at the building. Additionally, the small unit sizes at Carmel Place afforded us an opportunity to demonstrate to the world that efficient units don’t inherently require a reduction in quality of life.”
Ollie at Carmel Place—which was once going to be called My Micro NY—was designed by nARCHITECTS and developed by Monadnock Development, which assembled the building from modular components. The development cost was $16.7 million.
Stage 3’s next market could be Los Angeles, according to its website. Hello Alfred currently has locations in New York, Boston, San Francisco, and L.A.
Related Stories
Contractors | Jun 1, 2015
Nonresidential construction spending surges in April
Nonresidential construction is up by a solid 8.8% over the past year, consistent with ABC's forecast of high single-digit growth.
Office Buildings | Jun 1, 2015
Can you make a new building as cool as a warehouse?
Just as we looked at that boarded up warehouse and thought it could be something other, office towers can be reborn, writes CannonDesign's Robert Benson.
Fire and Life Safety | May 27, 2015
7 bold applications and innovations for fire and life safety
BD+C’s roundup features colorful sprinklers for offices, hotels, museums; a fire-rated curtain wall at a transit hub in Manhattan; a combination CO/smoke detector; and more.
BIM and Information Technology | May 27, 2015
4 projects honored with AIA TAP Innovation Awards for excellence in BIM and project delivery
Morphosis Architects' Emerson College building in Los Angeles and the University of Delaware’s ISE Lab are among the projects honored by AIA for their use of BIM/VDC tools.
University Buildings | May 19, 2015
Renovate or build new: How to resolve the eternal question
With capital budgets strained, renovation may be an increasingly attractive money-saving option for many college and universities.
University Buildings | May 19, 2015
KU Jayhawks take a gander at a P3 development
The P3 concept is getting a tryout at the University of Kansas, where state funding for construction has fallen from 20% of project costs to about 11% over the last 10 years.
Building Team | May 8, 2015
Construction industry adds 45,000 jobs in April
The construction industry saw an increase in jobs during the month of April after losing approximately 9,000 positions in March.
High-rise Construction | May 6, 2015
Parks in the sky? Subterranean bike paths? Meet the livable city, designed in 3D
Today’s great cities must be resilient—and open—to many things, including the influx of humanity, writes Gensler co-CEO Andy Cohen.
Multifamily Housing | May 1, 2015
Trade groups extend campaign to promote apartment living
The groups claim that there are more than 37 million Americans—12% of the population—living in just under 20 million apartment units nationwide. Apartments and their residents contribute $1.3 trillion annually to the economy.
Contractors | May 1, 2015
Nonresidential fixed investments fall in latest Construction Economic Update
This is the first time that nonresidential fixed investment declined since the first quarter of 2011, ABC reported. Nonresidential fixed investment had been rising by more than 4% on an annualized basis during five of the previous six quarters.