At 14.1 square metres this New York apartment would have to be one of the smallest real estate offerings – and at US$150,000 (NZ$208,000) – it could be one of the priciest at a staggering NZ$14,775 per sq metre!
However I guess that is the cost of Manhattan – one of the priciest parts of the big Apple. The couple who own the property Zaarath and Christopher Prokop have been featured in the New York Post and on the US real estate website of Zillow and provide in the article some great perspective of how to live in a property which is smaller than a single garage or boat shed!
The key aspect of life in this tiny apartment is not to use it for anything more than sleeping – the owners eat out all the time and best of all was the description of the fact that they jog to work picking up their clothes from dry cleaners on the way – beats closet storage!
When it comes to NZ and especially Auckland there has been much written around the quality of living experiences in some of the recent decade’s apartment blocks built around the CBD – none quite of the scale of 14 sq m, more like 30 sq metres. The main difference between NY and Auckland is the fact that NY has been a city of high density inner city living for more than a century and has developed a culture and a rich infrastructure of services to meet this demand of lifestyle city living, whilst Auckland has little of this type of infrastructure.
Another compelling difference is in quality of build and services. In the case of NY that is evident in this apartment’s US$700 per month service fee which will go to the on-going up-keep and maintenance as well as services for the apartment block. Most modern Auckland apartment blocks were built with less extensive services envisaged or provided.
As to the kind of apartments on offer in Auckland today – two at the small end of the scale caught my eye – this 1 bedroom 40 sq m on the market at $108,000 or else how about this colourful 22 sq m one on the market at $129,000.
Ha thats nothing, my wife and i spent 6 months in a 12 sq m apartment in Le Arcs (skifield), France. It even had a bath!
Andrew,
I sense a “Monty Python” sketch coming on! – it would be interesting to understand how anyone (actually anytwo) could manage that living without tearing each others hair out!!!
and they have 2 cats!
Enough room to swing two cats!
Alistair,
Interesting to compare with what’s on offer in Japan (see the following link). All the apartments are priced around NZD300 per week at current exchange rates and come fully furnished with internet access, etc.
http://www.eg.leopalace21.com/service03.html
It makes a mockery of what the developers dish up in NZ.
J.C.
Thanks for that link – I kind of half expected / anticipated a view from Japan – it has the reputation for compact living!!
Yes, but even under 30 sqm is small by Japanese standards. However, they use space much better than we do in the West.