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Demand has been partic- ularly high from students and young professionals, which has made the market for studios and one-bedrooms particularly strong, Kenny said. Unlike pre- vious generations, students and younger adults want to live alone, even if they must pay more. "What they really don't want is a roommate," Kenny said, pointing out that people are geing married later in life, as well. "People cannot believe how quickly the studios fly off the shelf." Kenny said rent for a 600-square-foot studio might run from about $1,300 to $1,500 per month in Hartford, with one-bedrooms ranging from $1,400 to $2,200 and larger spaces costing more. Although such renters don't need a lot of living space, he added, amenities allow them to spread out. And the amenities need to include accommodations for pets. "If you don't allow pets in the community, you are dead in the water," Kenny said. That trend has led to changing marketing strate- gies and redesigning apartments. For example, living spaces are likely to have planks that are easy to clean. "People are passionate about their pets. They will pay anything for their pets." His company specializes in reconstruction of older buildings. "What I like about adaptive reuse is that you have the historic materials that could never be duplicated," Kenny said. "And Connecticut has a deep history— to be able to recast that history with a modern use in historic bones is prey cool." Working space also is a consideration for renters today, the experts said. And Hartford developers are making accommodations. "It's specific to the person," Salvatore said. A studio or one-bedroom might not be enough for a single person or a couple who need a larger office, for example, so they might need two bedrooms now. Some apartment footprints are being adjusted to add features like a nook that creates a bit of an office space, which will help peo- ple who go back to the office just a few days per week, Salvatore said. "We haven't increased the size but redesigned and made some tradeoffs, so you can have a desk and work from home more comfortably," Salvatore explained. Regardless of an apartment's size, overall amenities are critical. Before Covid-19, people wanted features that allowed them to mingle with others. While that changed during the pandemic out of necessity, the desire remains, Salvatore noted. "Amenities are as valuable if not more valuable," Salvatore said. "People still want to be around other people. It's a natural human thing." The Future Michael W. Freimuth, executive director of the Capital Region Development Authority, pointed out that downtown Hartford has undergone significant change since his agency began creat- ing housing inventory nearly 10 years ago. "There really wasn't much of a market until 2013," Freimuth said. Since 2013, CRDA has built about 1,600 units and has an additional 700 in the pipeline. Now that the effects of Covid-19 have started to fade, occupancy rates are high and rental prices are increasing, which indicates a healthy market with room to grow, he said. Freimuth's agency focuses on downtown, where he said studios and one-bedrooms are highly sought. Opportunities exist with updating outdated housing stock to provide the modern amenities renters demand, such as high- speed internet access. He also is seeing an increasing interest in "micro units" or apartments that are 380 to 420 square feet. The rents are lower, but the prices per square foot are higher for developers. Meanwhile, successes have meant that the rental market is expanding in all directions from downtown, a trend that will only accelerate, Freimuth added. "Downtown is only so big," he said. "It's already moving in all four directions." HARTFORD LIVE WORK PLAY CAPITOL LOFTS, developed by the Capital Region Development Authority, offers 112 units in downtown Hartford. SUBMITTED 15 HBJ HARTFORD LIVE WORK PLAY