Communal living coming to Bedford-Stuyvesant
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
A pair of international development
fi rms plan to erect
a so-called “co-living” and hotel
complex in Bedford-Stuyvesant
next year, which will offer
dorm-style living at apartmentpriced
rents that one builder
described as “the way of the future.”
“It’s different to renting your
typical bedroom in New York
or Brooklyn, where you have to
do long term leases, where you
have to put up money for furniture,”
said Kevin O’Sullivan,
who heads up Irish-American
development outfi t Tower Holdings
Group. “This is a completely
modern way of living
because you don’t have to make
those commitments.”
The residential complex
planned for Fulton Street near
Bedford Avenue — which Tower
Holdings will build in partnership
with London-based co-living
company The Collective —
will feature two 10-story and
one seven-story towers stuffed
with 400 fully furnished bedrooms
connected via shared
facilities, such as kitchens and
bathrooms.
The three-tower development
will feature an interior
courtyard open to the public.
Tower Holdings declined to
share any information regarding
the layout, or pricing of its
upcoming co-living facility,
but looking at The Collective’s
London holdings offers some
insight into the novel, European
COURIER LIFE, N 18 OVEMBER 15-21, 2019
living standards the
builders hope to sell Brooklynites.
The fi rm charges £1083 per
month ($1,384) for an “ensuite”
— a roughly 100-square-foot
room with a private bathroom
and a kitchenette shared with
another tenant— or £1,300
($1669) per month for a 130-
square-foot studio with a private
kitchenette and bathroom,
according to its website.
The rooms may not be spacious,
but the developers are optimistic
that a host of hotel-style
amenities will more than make
up for the meager lodgings.
These include utilities, room
cleaning service, and gyms,
along with common and coworking
spaces. And residents
won’t even have to worry about
managing their own social calendar
— the landlord plans on
scheduling cultural events and
activities to keep tenants occupied.
Leases at the co-living facility
are offered month-by-month,
making them ideal as extendedstay
hotels, but will likely feature
reduced rates for tenants
looking for more permanent
quarters.
While the co-living trend
was born in the old country, it
has already taken root in recent
developments across the city. A
yearlong resident of a Boerum
Hill co-living facility, called
Common, on Baltic Street between
Third and Fourth avenues
said she was attracted to
the no fuss housing deal, which
came complete with furniture
— and roommates.
“The model is really great,
you don’t have to rustle up
friends or people that you can
establish a house with, you can
have your own room,” said the
tenant, who only gave her name
as Linda.
Linda claims that the social
activities — such as wine tastings,
cooking classes, and holiday
themed get-togethers — offered
by her landlord helped
her get to know her neighbors,
who she described as mostly recent
college grads seeking easy
accommodations.
“The tenants tend to have
a community feel about them,
like we get on the lifts and we
become familiar with each
other and get to know each
other’s dogs,” she said. “A lot
of younger people graduating
from college are fi nding a very
easy option to get into as far as
independence goes, the barrier’s
not too high, you can just
rent a room.”
The Collective bought the
T-shaped lot that was formerly
home to the historic Slave Theater
for $32.5 million, according
to property records, but a
spokeswoman for Tower Holdings
Group said the company
did not yet want to reveal the
costs for the revamp of the site.
The two fi rms also plan to
raise a 27-story co-living and
hotel tower at 555 Broadway in
Williamsburg in late 2022, on
top of three parking lots they
purchased for just north of $9.1
million in October 2018, according
to records.
Developers are planning to erect a co-living and hotel complex at Fulton
Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Photo by Kevin Duggan
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