Can Tiny Apartments Help With Downtown Sacramento's Housing Crisis?

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – A local developer has a plan to address the housing crisis in the downtown area by creating affordable luxury apartments, but these are not your average size.

"I'd love to live down here, but it's way too expensive," said Kylie Robison who commutes to downtown for work.

Trends are changing and some say less is more, especially more affordable.

"More people want to live compact simple lives," said John Kilps from San Diego.

A Sacramento developer said they're answering that demand with an 11-story building on 19th and J.

It has 173 residential units and a retail store on the ground level. These would be luxury apartments and 20 to 30 percent cheaper than the going rate in downtown Sacramento. Rent would start less than $1,000 a month.

The catch? These units range between 312 feet to 480 feet for a studio.

"Not everybody shops in bulk at Costco," Kilps said.

One issue is parking. The plan is to have 173 apartments and only 44 spaces. Those who live in midtown say that's not a problem.

"We currently have two cars, but we only need one, so we'd have no problem dropping vehicles," said Bryan Yong who lives in midtown.

But those who own businesses nearby have concerns.

"I'm very concerned about noise disturbances to my residential four-plex tenants including weekends, early and late construction noises because I have tenants working from home," said Diana Casey who owns a building and parking in midtown.

But for renters like Robison who drive from Rancho Cordova to downtown for work every day, this sounds like a dream.

"Downtown I can't even imagine how expensive it is to live down here, so affordable apartments would be cool," she said.

The 19J building is being developed by Nikky Mohanna. She said there's a need in the city for affordable housing, especially for those who want to live and work in the same downtown area.

The building will include 33 one bedroom apartments and a few more loft styles that will be larger.

It will also have a Sky Terrace shared space and outdoor and indoor lounges.