The Micro-Mansion concept: modest square footage, packed with amenities

Mansion Global, a premier website that connects real estate buyers with prestige properties across the globe through listings and relevant content, came up this year with an article on Frank McKinney’s innovative Micro-Mansion concept:

First, there were micro-apartments, multifamily units defined by the Urban Land Institute as 400 square feet or less (depending on the market), with functional kitchens and bathrooms. Then came the so-called “tiny houses” — a trend so popular it’s given rise to at least four reality TV shows.

Now, Frank McKinney, a developer based in Delray Beach, Fla., is gambling that ultra-wealthy homebuyers will be interested in purchasing what he’s termed a micro-mansion: a 4,042-square-foot, ultra-luxury home now under construction in Ocean Ridge, Fla., a coastal community about 30 minutes south of Palm Beach.

McKinney’s target market: high-net-worth individuals who can afford a $10 million house, but would prefer their luxury and privacy in a smaller, more manageable space.

“Many buyers are now plunking down $2,000 or $3,000 a square foot for condos in Miami,” said McKinney, who’s known for building multimillion-dollar speculative oceanfront mansions. “They would pay that [in Palm Beach County], but there’s nothing like that up here. I’m banking on the fact that they will appreciate a smaller house.”

This “smaller” house, slated for completion by the end of the year, will have three bedrooms, four baths, an ultra-modern design and unique amenities such as a sun deck that floats between two pools, antique wood flooring from a sunken 16th-century Spanish galleon, sea-glass kitchen countertops and a master bedroom suite with a second-floor outdoor shower that has trees growing into it. It’s located on a side street 345 feet from the ocean.

“The master bedroom is massive in relation to the rest of the house, and the kitchen is killer,” McKinney said. “But they’re small. I’ve built bedrooms bigger than this house.”

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