Japanese Capsule Style Hotels Make Their Way to California as Affordable Housing

Small spaces on a budget? Rent prices are going up every year in this area of the United States. California to be exact. A new start-up named Brownstone Shared Housing borrowed their new low income housing idea from the Japanese. 

These small pod like rooms are apart of a 8 sleep pod multi-plex. It is a 3 room, 2 bath, 8 sleeping pod house. Like Japanese capsule hotels first built in the 1970’s, they feature small amenities with primarily comfortable places to sleep for the night at lower costs to travelers. 

This California capsule housing complex is offering long term tenant stay inside of these 8 feet tall, yet still duplex pods. Making them slightly larger than the traditional Japanese capsule hotel pods.  Each pod is comes with a temperature-controlled fan, lighting, power outlets, and a desk. The rest of the house is completely furnished shared living spaces.

We think the idea is great, especially for students, travel nurses, entrepreneurs, and even families and friends with adult members living in the area, who are eager to share space with people they know, but can’t find a large enough or decent price to accommodate this large amount of people. Brownstone says they believe it will be about $800 per pod, which is less than if each person were to rent their own 1-bedroom in the area.

As swanky as these pods sound, do you think $800 for a private cubby hole in a shared living space with 7 more people is worth it? I guess it all depends on why you are there, where you reside, and for how long you are planning to stay!