If we can't (or won't) lower rent, I guess we just make smaller, somewhat cheaper places to live?

Revesco Properties is the big thinking behind the River Mile development near Elitch Gardens and Meow Wolf's location. But it's also turned its attention to thinking small ... small living spaces, that is. 

The developer has proposed a new apartment development for a parking lot that sits at 33rd Avenue and Tejon St. in LoHi. The lot itself is only about a tenth of an acre in size, but if the company has its way, it will be more than enough space to create a community.

The proposal is for 41 units, with the smallest measuring around 250 square feet. It's tiny home living but in an apartment building five floors tall. 

Micro-units like these may attract people who want more affordable living than full-size units but don't want to live with a roommate. Of course, they have to be willing to pay more to make it happen, at least that's the hope of Revesco Properties CEO Rhys Duggan. In addition to living units, there will also be retail space on the lowest level of the building with a smaller footprint to match the apartment sizes.

This follows Duggan's small-city-in-a-city type of plan, which he rolled out in the development plans for the River Mile. Both developments address the unsustainable horizontal sprawl that Denver's growth has caused thus far. Concentrated, vertical growth is the idea behind the projects. On the flip side of this project is the gentrification issues that Denver's growth has caused. The LoHi area has been struggling with this for the last several years, and this project is right in that neighborhood.

Perhaps a bigger question remains: Is this how Denver plans to address the housing supply and over-the-top housing/rental prices going forward? Will smaller units and more compact buildings do anything to make it more affordable to live in this city? Only time will tell, I suppose.

There has been no word on the cost of the units, though, in this market, I doubt they're going to astound anyone with rock-bottom prices. The River Mile development does set aside units for affordable housing, so there is a possibility this development might, as well. 

So what do you think? I personally already did my time living the tiny-space life in a dorm room (and I'd mostly love my rent fall to retreat to an acceptable level for a place with blue, shag carpet straight out of the '90s), but is this right up your alley? Would you be interested in living in a micro-unit? Does the small footprint or potential savings attract you more? Let us know in the comments below!