According to RentCafe, the average rent for a Dallas apartment is $1,577, with the average apartment sized at 848 square feet. That can leave many renters out in the cold—but a new project coming to East Dallas has a solution: building them smaller.  A lot smaller.

Bloc House, a 72-unit project from Dallas developers Jon Hetzel and Alex Lowe, aims to offer “micro apartments” that measure in at 350 square feet.

To be located along the Santa Fe Trail at 4615 Willow Street, Bloc House plans to enhance future renters’ tight living spaces by offering shared common areas and amenities at the community’s center, including a lawn, pool, and clubhouse.

The project’s plan as presented in December calls for 52 of the micro studio apartments, along with 20 two-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath units of 783 square feet.

‘A community of the future’

“You can build inherent natural community through design of the shared space you have with your neighbors,” Lowe said last December, according to the Lakewood/East Dallas Advocate. “What we want to do is build a community of the future and build them in a smaller space and give people a place where they can love where they live. The pillars we have are community, health and wellness, and environmental sustainability.”

The Bloc House project received unanimous zoning approval from the City Plan Commission in January.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Hetzel and Lowe bought the land for the project, totaling nearly 1.3 acres, earlier this month. 

Rent price still to be determined

So how much will a micro apartment rent for? Stay tuned.

“At this stage, we’re going through the design and pricing pre-development process so some of those requested details like exact unit size and estimated rent are still a bit in flux,” Hetzel told the Dallas Morning News. 

‘Front-porch culture’

On its LinkedIn page, Bloc House says it “builds small neighborhoods and big communities.” It describes itself as “a mission-driven company bringing back ‘front porch culture’ through thoughtful design, a focus on wellness, and pushing the boundaries of conventional development.”

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