KALAMAZOO, MI - The idea of building more downtown housing - including micro apartments -- for young professionals and others who want to be in the heart of the city may be validated by the pace at which Walbridge Common is filling up.

A 91-year-old. little-used warehouse at Walbridge and Frank streets was redeveloped in recent months into a 47-unit apartment building called Walbridge Common.

The $4.4 million project was put together by three local men who said they saw a need.

"Part of it was the inquiries we were getting on our current properties," said Jon Durhman, a partner with NoMi Developers LLC. "And part of it was the Zimmerman/Volk study that found that the city of Kalamazoo could use 1,500 more apartments over the next five years."

The 117-page study commissioned by Downtown Kalamazoo Inc. and presented last year by Zimmerman/Volk Associates Inc. of Clinton, N.J., found that downtown Kalamazoo and its surrounding neighborhoods could absorb about 1,500 more new rental and for-sale dwelling units.

It suggested that those could include 1,000 units created by adapting and re-using existing buildings. And by creating 375 to 460 new workforce/affordable housing units.

Managers of upscale apartments and condominium space in the central business district have said they have waiting lists for their residential spaces.

Walbridge Common is the conversion of the 34,000-square-foot former Kalamazoo Stationery Co. building into 31 one-bedroom apartments, two-bedroom apartments and efficiencies, as well as 16 micro apartments.

The micro apartments are 320 square feet each. They include a full bathroom and kitchen area. They cater to a growing trend of people who are interested in living more simply and spending less on housing, according to housing professionals. They include younger people who would rather spend money on their schooling or travel, and older people who would rather save more money for retirement than they spend on maintaining a residence.

The micro apartments lease for $500 to $550 per month. Durham and Ayres said they wanted to market apartments in that price range to provide a more affordable residential opportunity for young people who work downtown. Two-bedroom apartments in the building are 1,000 to 1,100 square feet each and lease for $1,850 per month.

All of the apartments have an industrial decor - concrete flooring and walls with some exposed pipes.

Redevelopment of the former warehouse began on Dec. 7, 2015 and was competed on July 7 of this year. Thirty-seven of the units are occupied, including 13 of the 16 micro units.

The NoMi partners are Durham, Herb Ayres and C. Mac Waldorf. Among other things, Waldorf is co-owner of the Columbia Plaza Building at 350 E. Michigan Ave.

Walbridge Common sits immediately north of the Life Story Building, a commercial/residential structure that was developed in 2011 at 518 E. North St. by Durham, Ayres and partner Jerry Harty. It houses six residential units and three businesses, including the consulting and multi-media center for Durham and Ayres' Life Story Network of funeral homes. It also houses the Jerry Harty Studio, which produces print and glass artwork.

In the summer of 2014, NoMi Developers built the Norbridge Building. It is a 13,000-square-foot commercial/residential building at Walbridge and Ransom streets, just south of the Life Story Building. It is home to Streamline Healthcare Solutions, a software development company that has 50 workers. It also has five apartments.

The NoMi partners are still looking for a restaurant tenant to utilize ground-level space on the south side of Walbridge Common. It will face North Street. The men anticipate having a restaurant/tavern that can seat about 95 patrons. It will utilized about 2,000 square feet of space indoors as well as a 1,200-square-foot outdoor patio area.

"It's the most difficult project we've ever done and it's also far exceeded our expectations as far as the overall look and feel of the building and the acceptance of people in the community wanting to live there," Durham said of the overall project.

Speaking of the area just north of the River's Edge area to the north and east of the downtown, he said, "It has really completed a neighborhood within a community in the Rivers Edge District, beyond what we thought it would be."