The Latest Trend in Apartments? Makerspaces.
As the need for housing continues to grow and as more and more buildings pop up in up-and-coming neighborhoods, we’ve started to notice an interesting and inspiring trend that we hope is here to stay. We’re entering the age of apartment complexes that incorporate creative studios and maker spaces into their ground floor level, improving the neighborhood for locals and visitors alike.
The ground floor of a building helps contribute to a city’s commerce, public space and creative expression. But in so many instances, that prime retail is taken up by a bank, cafe or drug store. Not that there’s anything wrong with those institutions, but sometimes it can feel like there’s a CVS on every block.
In Oakland, a development called Holiday will use its ground floor as a 13,600-square-foot space to house small businesses and manufacturers. This will help the smaller makers get a leg up in the competitive world of San Francisco, where they’re slowly being pushed out due to high rents and high demand from other, bigger corporations.
Oakland is a great area for artists and creatives, already becoming a hub for innovation and design. With this new building, we hope to see the continuation of this inspiring trend, which will not only strengthen our economy and support housing, but also bring our community closer together.
What do you think of this new trend? Ready to move into a maker building yourself? Tell us in the comments below!
