Innovative Housing at Poet’s Place

Poets’ Place, Studio KDA'snewest multi-unit housing project in Berkeley, advances our belief in community-driven living. The hybrid co-living model balances connection and autonomy, with shared kitchens and lounges anchoring each floor and compact private rooms offering quiet retreat. The result is a flexible, socially oriented environment that rethinks housing for a more collective, contemporary way of life.

Poet’s Place was designed as the prototype for a new housing type in the City of Berkeley and as a model for the greater Bay Area in addressing the housing crisis.

The design takes what has traditionally been the cheapest housing available – the SRO / Residential Hotel model and brings it into the 21^st Century by marrying it to a modern, socially-based Co-Living model. The result is a new housing type that both promotes community and is financially accessible to more people.

Following the Co-Living model, each floor has a generous common room with lounge areas, communal dining space, and two full kitchens.

The project upgrades the traditional SRO bedroom by providing private bathrooms and kitchenettes in each unit. Tenants may live independently in their self-contained studio or “opt in” to the shared community just outside their door. 

Poet’s Place provides apartments that are affordable to middle income earners, as the rent includes furnishings, utilities, Wi-Fi and shared amenities including the Bay-view roof deck and spacious kitchens and lounges. We believe this model is scalable and transferrable to other areas with similar economic profiles.