Co-living startup Common launches two more Brooklyn developments

That brings the company’s Brooklyn total to six

By Rachel Sugar Mar 6, 2017, 12:00pm EST

Common’s “flexible, community-driven housing” solution appears to be catching on. In January, the company opened its largest co-living space yet—Common Baltic, which offers market-rate rooms, as well as traditional apartments, in Boerum Hill—and today, the company announced the launch of two more luxe group-living houses, both in Crown Heights. (For those playing along at home, that means Common now operates six “community-minded” living situations in Brooklyn.)

In total, the two new digs—Common Herkimer, in Bed-Stuy, and Common Kingston, in Crown Heights—will house 39 members. Rents at the Herkimer property, which houses 18, start at $1,450/month for a private bedroom and shared living space. The Kingston house, meanwhile, will have 21 slots open, with rents starting at $1,600 for the same. Those prices reflect the typical market rate for similarly sized apartments in Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights, according to the latest MNS rental market reports.

“As we expand Common’s footprint nationally, we have seen tremendous demand for community-minded living,” said founder and CEO Brad Hargreaves in a statement. “So many people want to live in a place where they actually get to know their neighbors, and we are thrilled to welcome more members into the Common family with the openings of Herkimer and Kingston.”

While both houses have the same light and airy (and, yes, dorm-like) vibe of Common’s other developments, each also has its own particular charms. At Common Kingston, every suite comes with its own washer and dryer. At Common Herkimer, residents must make do with a free communal laundry room, but then, they get access to the building’s “expansive” roof deck.

Both houses also come with all the usual hallmarks of the Common experience: shared living spaces, potlucks and other occasional events, a Slack channel, and never having to buy your own toilet paper.

And while co-living is definitely not for everyone, it’s clearly striking a chord: The company has already received more than 12,000 applications for its existing inventory of 265 rooms in New York and San Francisco, and its first D.C. house is currently in the works.