Developers aim to attract young people with luxury tenements

Rent for roughly 500-square-foot units in Murray Hill typically start at $3,000 a month

From left: The Collective on East 33rd Street and Third Avenue and old tenements in New York
From left: The Collective on East 33rd Street and Third Avenue and old tenements in New York

Who said walk-ups can’t be fancy?

Developers are now turning to old tenements — rundown walk-ups reminiscent of when immigrants settled in New York City in the early 1900s– and are fancying them up with outrageous amenities such as game rooms and rooftops, according to the New York Daily News.

While they buildings are getting more luxurious, the tiny apartments are getting smaller as developers add more bathrooms and more bedrooms. Under these new configurations, one-bedroom units can be as small as 500 square feet. Original one-bedroom units (starting at $3,000) become 700-square-feet two-bedroom apartments. The developer is marketing these units to wealthy 22-to-30-year-olds.

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One such example can be found in Murray Hill, where developer Slate Property Group invested $10 million to renovate seven tenement buildings on East 33rd Street. The landlord linked the seven buildings, which now have a tunnel that leads to an underground game room filled with arcade machines, according to the newspaper.

The development comes with a part-time doorman, dishwashers and a shared rooftop space.

Similar spruced up tenement developments can be found in the Lower East Side, where two-bedrooms go for $7,000 a month. [NYDN] — Claire Moses