Dallas-based developer wants to bring co-living communities to Houston

The number of adults living with roommates apparently hit an all-time high in 2017, according to a Zillow study done at the time.

The National Association of Realtors revealed that nearly half of realtors reported seeing an increase in “group-living” between 2019 and 2020.

Since then, homeownership hasn’t become any more attainable and now rental communities are the hottest development trend.

The Shelter Companies, which is the residential development subsidiary of Dallas-based Civitas Capital Group, is taking that trend a step further by putting up a 238-unit co-living development. The firm has chosen UNITi Montrose at 701 Richmond Avenue for the project, the Houston Business Journal reports.

The building was originally designed as a nine-story, 199,320-square-foot multifamily midrise catering to young professionals. It already has 238 units, but soon it will offer 381 available bedrooms for renters to lease individually.

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Co-founder Mark Drumm says most of the units will have three or four bedrooms with a single kitchen and laundry area that all of the residents can access. The Shelter Cos. will help to line residents up with roommates to fill out each unit.

“It saves them the hassle of having to find a roommate, and each resident signs their own contract, so they are not on the hook for anyone else’s rent,” he said. “We believe there is a market for renters who just got out of college and are used to living with roommates.”

The building will also offer a number of “microunits” between 320 square feet and 420 square feet and cost between 10 and 20 percent less than a traditional studio apartment, which is typically around 500 square feet, Drumm said. There will also be a courtyard pool and other amenities commonly found in mid-range apartment buildings.

“For a lot of young people, there just aren’t a lot of options for places to live because rents keep getting higher and higher,” said Mark Drumm, managing partner and co-founder of The Shelter Cos. “We think this will offer a more affordable option in a highly sought-after area.”

Drumm said he and his partners were inspired by a co-living building they viewed in London in 2018.

“Co-living can be a scary word to some people, but this just made sense to us,” Drumm said, adding that it’s been decades since multifamily developers focused on roommate-living projects.

— Maddy Sperling