132 Micro-Unit Development Now Accepting Fredericton Tenants
FREDERICTON–MICRO Boutique co-owner Dr. Chris Galea admits his company’s small-footprint, fully furnished micro-units aren’t for everybody.
“We all have different needs at different stages in life, and what might work at one space may not work at another,” he said.
The same idea holds true for people looking for certain qualities in cars, something Galea offers as an analogy.
“Our units are much more like a small, high-performance BMW or Porsche as opposed to a larger SUV-type vehicle. Both vehicles have different functions and different values,” he says. “Our smaller size does allow us to offer more units, or to design more units into the same space relative to other normal developers.”
Galea says the company’s micro-units are appealing to a fairly broad range of renters.
“It’s a very easy transition for a student, or if you’re just starting a new job in a new city, you can move into our units pretty much overnight.”
Now accepting Tenants in Fredericton
MICRO Boutique announced Wednesday that it’s now accepting tenants for its centrally located Fredericton rental property, located at 650 Waterloo Row.
The building includes 132 fully furnished micro-units, ranging from studios to one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. The units have been designed with students, university staff, and young professionals in mind.
On MICRO Boutique’s website, an eight-month “Academic Lease” in Fredericton starts at $9,500 (for the 8-month term) and is “specifically tailored for students looking for high end accommodation at groundbreaking value.”
The year-round leases at the same building start at $950 per month.
Each apartment unit includes appliances and furnishings and tenants have access to services like a rooftop patio, outdoor dining area, movie theatre, and community workspace.
There’s also an Electric CarShare program and cleaning services available.
Galea believes it’s the first development in New Brunswick to offer a CarShare program as part and parcel with a rental building.
A focus on sustainable living
Inspired by boutique hotels in New York and Europe, and with a specialty in business and sustainable development, Galea founded MICRO Boutique in 2012 while teaching at St. Francis Xavier University.
It was at St FX that he began to recognize how the student population was becoming increasingly underserviced when it came to finding quality living options.
“You’re seeing all my students struggling each year to find decent housing and many of them paying very significant amounts of money to, for example, share a rundown five- or six-bedroom house,” says Galea. “My concept evolved with the idea of ‘well, let’s provide really high-quality places. We’ll make them really small to be able to make them affordable.’”
Galea and his wife, Alyson Roberts, both left their professional jobs behind in 2014 to run MICRO Boutique full time.
While the company started with micro-unit options in university towns like Antigonish and Wolfville, Galea says Fredericton, home to the University of New Brunswick in particular, still represents a very different market for the company.
So far, he’s been pleasantly surprised with the amount of interest in the building.
In business, Galea and Roberts have tried to seek ways to align each of their developments with their own values.
The smaller footprint for the units drives energy efficiency and reduces the consumption of heat and power.
The Waterloo Row building is 25 percent more energy-efficient than required by Canada’s National Energy Building Code, in addition to being fully accessible, with 16 barrier-free units designed to enable wheelchair access. MICRO Boutique also welcomes small pets up to 40 pounds.
It’s on track to start welcoming tenants on August 1, though Galea expects some units may be occupied sooner if work stays on schedule.
MICRO Boutique is also busy on another project, a 119-unit development planned for Dartmouth, with construction set to begin later this year.
Tyler Mclean is a Huddle reporter based in Fredericton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].