Co-living comes to the Triangle to keep rent low
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The Dillard Co-Living apartments in downtown Durham. Photo: Zachery Eanes/Axios
Downtown Durham is in the middle of an apartment building boom — and one new building is banking on strangers living together to keep rent low.
Why it matters: The Triangle's rapid population growth is pushing cities and developers to build more densely in hopes that a growing supply will keep prices from spiraling out of control.
Driving the news: The Dillard Co-Living apartments fit squarely into that trend.
- The new construction, at 222 N. Dillard St., adds 95 new private bedrooms and bathrooms to the downtown Durham market — but each of those units shares a kitchen and living room with five other residents.
- In exchange, rents in the expensive downtown Durham market are starting at $750, including all utilities and WiFi, with flexible lease options.
- Some of the units also come fully furnished.
- Jason Wallace, the CEO of Charlotte-based Community Room Rental, which manages the property, said the goal is to rent rooms at a 30-40% discount compared to the cost of a market-rate studio with utilities.
The big picture: Boarding houses and co-living buildings, which allow residents to rent a room and share a bathroom and kitchen, were popular in cities across the country at the turn of the 20th century, according to Bloomberg's CityLab.
- In recent years, as housing prices increased, the arrangements have seen a surge of interest, the New York Times reported.
- Raleigh, for example, loosened some of its zoning rules last year to encourage the construction of more co-living apartments in the city and tackle a shortage of housing units.
Zoom in: Wallace has been creating co-living situations for the past decade, mainly in Charlotte, through a mix of managing single-family homes and small apartment buildings.
- But the Durham project is the largest his company has done to date.
- While he knows the first attraction is the price, he says he believes co-living can provide a sense of community that is hard to find — especially for people new to a city or starting out their career.
What they're saying: "People will move to a town and think strategically about living near things, like a coffee shop or a gym. But what about a community?" Wallace said.
- "Most people think it will just happen organically but that is hard to do, especially as you get older. What if we create that community right away instead?"
How it works: At the Dillard Co-Living apartments, each tenant gets a private bedroom and bathroom, Wallace said. That room, however, is part of a pod of five rooms that shares a common area and a kitchen.
- Every tenant is interviewed and given a background check, but there's no limit to what age or gender can rent a room. Wallace said ages typically range from people in their 20s to 50s, and they often work in a variety of fields, like teaching or travel nursing.
- Wallace said it's key that every tenant agrees to a group of house rules before renting, and that the on-boarding process has prevented disagreements over dishes or what people keep in common rooms. "Dishes have to be done within two hours," he noted.
- Housekeeping comes every two weeks to do deeper cleans of the common areas.
What's next: Wallace said his firm is always keeping an eye out opportunities in the Triangle, but its main goal is getting the Dillard Co-Living apartments off the ground.
- Leasing at the building started last month, though not all rooms are listed yet while Community Room Rental finishes decorating.