SmartSpaceT̳M̳ : opportunities for a new real estate product

SmartSpaceTM, or "S2" for short, is a super-efficient, super-cool, super-small studio apartment with many built-in features designed to be built in very high density, prime, city locations. This thesis has two main objectives: 1) explore the design of SmartSpaceTM and recommend changes so that it will better fit the needs of its users; and 2) identify target markets and locations for S2 development. To achieve the first objective, I stayed in an S2 prototype unit for five days and five nights to get the full SmartSpaceTM experience. During my stay, I surveyed 14 graduate students and young professionals to collect their feedback regarding the design of the unit. My S2 experience was generally positive, but the unit felt more like a hotel than an apartment. To live there for a year or more, I recommended among other things, a larger, more functional kitchen, a redesigned bathroom/shower, and a bigger closet. Survey participants had similar and additional detailed feedback. The suggestions were reported to the developer and architect working on S2 so the improvements can be made. To achieve the second objective: 1) historical trends and precedents of small living space were studied; 2) housing representatives at major universities were interviewed about graduate student housing preferences; 3) patterns were identified in the S2 survey results to make conclusions as to what groups of people will most likely be interested in living in S2; and 4) a methodology was created utilizing demographic and rental data to find the most appropriate locations for S2 development.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Real Estate. Program in Real Estate Development.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Author dc:creator

• Qiu, Si Yuan

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Dennis Frenchman.

• Center for Real Estate. Program in Real Estate Development.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/54862

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/54862