Micro units have staying power as a housing type, according to research from ULI.

The units, which are typically larger than a one-car garage, but smaller than a double, appeal to urban dwellers in high-cost markets who are willing to trade space for improved affordability and proximity to downtown neighborhoods.

The “Macro View on Micro Units” report includes an analysis by MPF Research of more than 400 rental apartment communities (comprising more than 90,000 units) built in 2012–2013 in the 35 U.S. metropolitan areas that experienced the highest concentration of multifamily construction during that period. It also includes findings from more than 3,500 responses to an early-2014 survey by Kingsley Associates of renters of both conventional apartments and micro units; and case studies drawn from 30 existing and 18 planned rental communities with micro units that were identified by Robert Charles Lesser & Company (RCLCO). The Macro View on Micro Units was prepared for ULI’s Multifamily Housing Councils with support from a grant awarded in 2013 by the ULI Foundation.

Read the key findings of the report at Urban Land magazine.