Forty percent of households in New York City are not families, according to census data, yet most of the city’s housing stock is designed to house families. Studios account for only 7 percent of the housing stock, according to the Citizens Housing and Planning Council. Single New Yorkers often subdivide apartments, squeezing several roommates into configurations that are often illegal and unsafe. Adding locks to bedroom doors can violate fire codes. And a provision in the city’s housing maintenance code prohibits more than three unrelated people from occupying the same apartment, a rule that is often ignored and considered antiquated.

“There is this idea that bigger is better, and that we need housing for families,” said Sarah Watson, the deputy director of the Citizens Housing and Planning Council and manager of its Making Room initiative, which ultimately led to the city’s micro-unit competition. “But people change, lifestyle changes, technology changes and the housing needs to change.”

The micro units’ design, by nArchitects, tries to resolve the potential for claustrophobia with ceilings that are more than nine feet tall and sliding glass doors that open onto Juliet balconies. The building also provides communal space, including a gym, two lounges and an outdoor courtyard. A lounge in the cellar will have a pool table and a television, and the eighth-floor lounge will open onto a shared roof deck with a barbecue. “People don’t want to be limited by the size of their apartment,” Mr. Oriwol said.

A communal lounge might make tight living quarters more tolerable, but it does not make it any easier to squeeze a bed (and maybe a table and chair, too) into a tiny space. For that, Monadnock enlisted Stage 3 Properties to offer a brand of furnishings and services that it calls Ollie. The 17 market-rate apartments are furnished by Ollie with pieces distributed by Resource Furniture. Among them is a sofa designed by the Italian manufacturer Clei that allows a tenant to take off the cushions and pull down a bed from the wall, transforming a living room into a bedroom. A white lacquer desk can be extended into a dining table that seats 10. Tenants who are unsure about how to decorate such a small space can buy an Ollie Box, an assortment of décor options like throw pillows, rugs and table lamps.

All market-rate tenants receive an Ollie amenity package that includes weekly housekeeping by Hello Alfred, an app-based personal butler service; Wi-Fi; cable; and access to events, some of which are free. Tenants living in the 14 affordable units would have to pay $163 a month extra for access to these services. An additional eight apartments, furnished and supplied with the Ollie amenity package, will be set aside for formerly homeless veterans.

“The market has already decided that space is just one attribute that renters consider when they’re looking for housing,” said Christopher Bledsoe, a founding partner of Stage 3 Properties. Other attributes like housekeeping and free Wi-Fi, he said, might convince some renters to pay more for less room.