Micro apartments bringing new life to downtown Kearney

KEARNEY, Neb. - It's no secret that affordable housing is a pressing issue for people both nationally and statewide.

A central Nebraska business is turning back the clocks and taking an older approach to addressing one piece of the problem locally.

"Every town in Nebraska has these great downtown buildings. They are maybe two stories tall and have a commercial space on the ground floor, and upstairs, historically, a lot of them were used for housing," said principal architect at Good Life Architecture Patrick Moore.

Goodlife Architecture's office in Kearney sits on the main floor of a two-story historic building in Kearney, and the company is renovating the apartments above their office to make them more viable workforce housing options.   

"It's the best possible example of affordable workforce housing," said Moore.

The apartments range from about 350 to 650 square feet, making them micro-sized. Officials added these apartments aren't for everyone, but they address the need for workforce housing which is one of the key parts of the entire affordable housing crisis.

"We're just making them better, making them affordable and better for people to live in the 21st century," said Moore.

The architects added that living downtown is less popular than it used to be, and most new developments are being created from scratch or being built out in the suburbs. One problem with this is that old properties are forgotten and often left abandoned or dilapidated while they still have housing value.

"Living downtown is a popular trend that I think is going to continue especially in Kearney, Hastings and all these areas that I think have forgotten what downtown could be, so we're here to see what it can be," said architect Garrett Walter.