The coliving trend is like dorms for grownups, if that’s your thing

For those who miss the crazy, communal, and somewhat crowded living of college, have we got a treat for you. Commonspace is a set up coming to Syracuse that pretty much mimics how you lived during your freshman year of college — although creator Troy Evans is reluctant to call it a “dorm.”

“We’re trying to combine an affordable apartment with this community style of living, rather than living by yourself in a one-bedroom in the suburbs,” Evans told the Atlantic. By “community style of living,” Evans means two floors of a building that will house 21 300-square-feet micro units, each containing a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen.

I know what you’re thinking: this just sounds like an apartment building. What’s unique about Commonspace is, well, the common space. While these tiny apartments line the perimeter of the floor, most of the center is dedicated to communal living. There’s a kitchen, and lounge, and even a game room, all for facilitating the social interaction that millennials crave, without the astronomical rent they can’t afford.

Each unit will cost between $700 and $900 a month. John Talarico, Evans’s partner in the project, explains, saying, “If your normal rent is $1,500, we’re coming in way under that. You can spend that money elsewhere, living, not just sustaining.”

Commonspace will help you with that as well. The duo plan to bring on board a “social engineer” who will help with group events, like dinners and bar crawls. “We’re trying to make it a neighborhood in a building,” Evans says. “You’re not staying in your room watching TV all day, you’re eating in the restaurants, going to the coffee shops and the bars, and doing it as a group.”

Okay, you’ve won us over. The privacy of a tiny room combined with the excitement of a fun community? It’s like the best parts of college rolled into one. Right now, this project is situated firmly in Syracuse, but if successful, the duo hopes to bring Commonspace to other cities. How can we get on that waitlist?

(Image via Shutterstock)