Could 'adult dorms' save city downtowns?

American cities have two big problems these days: Too much empty office space and not enough affordable housing. There may be a solution.

Those empty offices could be converted to "micro-apartments" — "ultracompact rentals about the size of a cruise ship cabin," said The Minnesota Star Tribune. A study from urban planners said a typical micro-apartment in Minneapolis would rent for about $750 a month, "about half the cost of a typical rental" in the city's downtown. But they would definitely be micro, about 150 square feet. Each apartment would have room for a bed, desk and half-sized refrigerator. Living room, kitchen and laundry areas would be communal shared spaces. "We're adding a lower rung on the housing ladder," said Pew Charitable Trust's Alex Horowitz.

These would be "tiny, tiny, apartments," Andrea Riquier said at USA Today. The idea for "single-room occupancy dwellings have been around for centuries" — boarding houses were a thing, once — but they have been reimagined for a new generation. They could serve young adults, older people and even the homeless. Most importantly, it would let developers add housing to a "market at the most affordable price point."

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What did the commentators say?

"What if cities finally legalized adult dorms?" Rachel Cohen said at Vox. America is in an "affordability crisis" driven by a shortage of as many as 7 million homes. Repurposing office buildings into regular apartments "seems like a perfect solution" but it's easier said than done: "Strict zoning laws, high interest rates, rising construction costs" and other factors can make the conversions expensive. The micro-apartment shared spaces approach is "fundamentally different," Cohen said. One challenge: Many cities long ago banned "single-room occupancies" — then known as "flophouses" — because they were seen as attracting marginalized people.

The payoffs could include "revitalized downtowns, reduced homelessness, improved housing affordability, and more economic opportunity," Alex Horowitz and Tushar Kansal said in a post for Pew Charitable Trusts, which developed the idea. Residents would benefit not just from cheap rents, but from close access to downtown jobs and public transportation. That would help "expand their economic opportunities."

What next?

The proposal comes as a "seismic event" is expected in the commercial real estate market, said Business Insider. The rise of work-from-home for many office workers means that more than a billion square feet of office space could become available for residential conversions. High vacancy rates in office buildings mean those properties will be "firesold and either demolished or converted," said Richard Barkham, of commercial real estate investment firm CBRE.

Progress is already evident. Micro-apartments are already spreading in the Pacific Northwest, said The Associated Press. The state of Washington earlier this year passed a bill requiring cities to allow micro-apartments in residential buildings with at least six units. It takes effect next year. In Seattle, meanwhile, units are available for about $900 a month — about $550 less than the median cost of a studio apartment. "If you're a single person and you want a low-cost place to live, that's as cheap as you're going to get without trying to find a subsidized apartment," said Sightline Institute's Dan Bertolet.