PHOENIX — Walking through X Phoenix feels like you're in a massive hotel with an indoor and outdoor gym, pool, cafe and conference spaces. But people like Luke Fouts are not only living there, they're working there too.
"I'm a filmmaker, photographer, just do media full-time. So yeah, I'm probably down here most days," Fouts said while speaking with ABC15 from a remote working space.
The apartment units off 3rd Avenue and Van Buren not only have co-working spaces, meaning remote workers can get out of their rooms and into a more neutral space amongst their peers to focus, but they're also co-living. That means residents are paired up with roommates. They get their own bedroom and bathroom but share a kitchen and living room. The roommates are all on separate leases for financial independence.
"Everyone's like really young professionals here," Fouts said. "It doesn't have that dorm feel really."
"The idea was to try to find ways of providing somewhat affordable options for young professionals to try to live in major metropolitan areas around the country, because we were concerned about what we were seeing in terms of housing prices and supply of housing across the country," said Noah Himmel, Senior Vice President of Operations for The X Company.
On the X Phoenix website, you can find a few co-living spaces available for about $1,300 a month, all amenities included. But the prices can go up depending on size and lease term. Another co-living complex nearby, Kenect Phoenix, advertises fully furnished spaces for about $1,400.
Zumper reports as of this month, the average rent for a studio apartment in downtown Phoenix is about $1,500 a month. A one bedroom is about $1,800.
Mortgage rates are above 7% and Lending Tree reports the average mortgage payment in Arizona is now $2,400 a month.
Himmel says there are other reasons people are choosing this alternative way of living.
"These are different ways of achieving environmental goals, social goals, sustainability goals and also trying to provide a community where people can interact," said Himmel.
Himmel says most people living this way are the Gen-Z or Millennial population. With its growing popularity, he says they're in the process of building another downtown complex.
