Americas oldest shopping mall, built 188 years ago in downtown Providence, Rhode Island, now houses micro-apartments on its top two floors.
Called Arcade Providence, the new apartment community has 48 units ranging from 225 to 775 square feet and renting for $800 to $1,800 per month. The community maintains retail space on the ground floor and has common areas for residents that include storage space and a game and TV room.
Each fully furnished micro-space includes an elevated full bed over a four-drawer dresser, a small kitchen table, a sofa, a 50-inch flat-screen TV and a full bathroom, reports Business Insider. The kitchens include a mini-refrigerator, a dishwasher and a microwave, but no stovetop or oven.
The mall, once called the Westminster Arcade, was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1976. The privately funded, $10 million conversion to apartments occurred six years after the mall closed for good.
The units leased up immediately and more than 4,000 people were on the waiting list.