Canaan Modern Plans $43M Tiny Apartments in East Austin

You’ve heard of tiny homes, now meet tiny apartments.

Canaan Modern Homes is planning a $43 million multifamily development in East Austin, and most of the units will comprise less than 500 square feet, the Austin Business Journal reported.

The project, called Atlas 7, will have 192 apartments above 13,000 square feet of ground-floor retail at 3511, 3525 and 3535 East Seventh Street and 621 Gunter Street.

The cost works out to almost $224,000 per unit.

The 111,000-square-foot project will rise four stories and have a two-story parking garage.

Canaan, a design-build firm based in Austin, is developing the land on behalf of the Herrera Ernesto family, the outlet reported.

At least 175 of the apartments will span less than 500 square feet, and the development has an affordable component. Ten percent of units will be reserved for those earning 50 percent of the area median income. That’s a little over $52,000, the outlet reported.

Construction is expected to start in November. Mark Odom Studio is handling design, and Parnell Engineering is the civil engineer.

Developers are building apartments left and right. About 23,000 apartments are set to come online in the capital this year, third to Dallas and New York City. And more apartments were built in Austin over the past three years than anywhere else, according to Yardi’s RentCafe. Still, demand is continuing to grow as “existing supply is struggling to keep up with demand,” according to Yardi Matrix.