Dive Brief:

• Houston developer Surge Homes announced Tuesday that it will deliver early next year the first of 14 microcondo units it planned for its project at the city’s $21.6 million Parc at Midtown development.
• The units, which will start at almost $152,000, range from 414 square feet to 498 square feet and include a master bedroom, living space and windows at both the front and back exteriors.
• This will be the first Houston development to include microcondos, and Surge officials said their market research indicates the city is "ripe" for the concept, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Dive Insight:

Houston doesn’t have the typical population density of cities that have seen successful microhousing projects so far, but Surge said their survey of 3,400 Houston residents gave them the confidence to go ahead with their plans for the first microcondos in the city.

However, Surge isn’t the first Houston developer to toy with the microcondo concept. Houston developer Novel Creative Development planned a 24-story, 550-unit microcondo project that failed to draw the attention of its targeted market of millennials and empty nesters during presales. Of the handful of units that did sell, Novel found that investors were the primary customers, so it shifted its plan to a condo hotel concept where owners can rent their units out to visitors for short-term stays. Like Surge, Novel said its research indicated that the millennials of Houston would snatch up the 304-square-foot to 1,001-square-foot units, but Novel said it discovered those millennials weren't yet ready to embrace microcondos.

Austin is another Texas city experimenting with the micro concept. Transwestern Development Company is planning a microapartment building to fill the city's needs for affordable rental units. Company officials said the 139 furnished apartments, ranging from 350 square feet to 520 square feet, will attract those who want to live near Austin's entertainment and amenities but can't afford the high rents.

New York City also got its first microapartment building earlier this year. Carmel Place began leasing in January and includes 55 studios ranging from 260 square feet to 360 square feet. The rent isn’t very micro, however, at $2,540-$2,910, but 14 are below-market units. Those rent for $950, and nearly 60,000 people applied for those units, which were rented out according to a lottery system