Tenants this week have started moving into Turntable Studios, in a major test of how willing Denver renters are to take a smaller space for a lower rent payment.

“This is the biggest micro-housing development in Denver,” said James Johnson, a principal with Johnson Nathan Strohe, which designed the revamp of the former Hotel VQ near Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

The project, developed by Nichols Partnership and Capital Realty Group, has 179 apartments. Aside from a few penthouses on the 13th floor, most are about 335 square feet.

For perspective, Denver requires developers to provide 350 square feet of parking space for each apartment unit they bring to market. The trade-off for tiny is a central Denver rent under $1,000 a month, which would make the units affordable to someone earning in the mid-$30,000 range.

By comparison, two-bedroom apartments in nearby Highland rent for a median of $2,120 a month, while in Lower Downtown Denver, they run $2,430, according to ApartmentList.

About half the units at Turntable Studios are leased, primarily to young adults looking to live near Denver’s urban core and who probably haven’t accumulated a lot of material possessions.

Although micro-units are becoming more common in the nation’s most expensive rental markets, they remain a novelty in Denver, which only recently joined coastal cities in the high-rent league.

Denver is channeling $150 million to create more affordable housing, but the private sector is also trying to tackle the affordability problem in creative ways, Johnson said.

The old hotel and land cost $9 million, and the building was renovated for another $11 million to $12 million. Johnson and partners Tobias Strohe and Nicole Nathan preserved what they could and purchased off-the-shelf solutions whenever possible.

Rather than re-cladding the exterior, for example, apartments were fitted with noncustom shades in bright red, yellow and orange.

Depending on what shades residents pull down at any given time, the building’s appearance changes. “It is kinetic art,” Strohe said.

One big expense went to full-length windows that provide more light and make the units feel larger.

Compact shelving and cabinets from IKEA , a proponent of the small-space movement, were used in the kitchenettes and bathrooms. And bathtubs were refinished rather than replaced.

Other compromises were necessary, such as providing hot plates instead of gas or electric ranges, which would have put an overly heavy utility load on the building.

Nathan said Turntable Studios represents the application of a concept that the firm, which is changing its name from JG Johnson this month, calls “pragmatic beauty.”

Such an approach, which includes finding new uses for old things and creating style at a low cost, is one that resonates with millennials, she said.

Three old signs from the VQ Hotel were salvaged. In the entryway, letters from one sign hang from the ceiling spelling “loVe,” while in the bike storage area, letters spell out “Velo.”

The retrofit of the 1969 concrete-frame building makes several nods to its mod origins, including an assemblage of vintage stereo speakers surrounding a flat-panel television in the lobby.

Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410, asvaldi@ denverpost.com or twitter.com/aldosvaldi