Mayor Menino is pushing for hyper-small studio apartments in the Seaport (“Innovation”) District.

We’re talking way small. As in 375-square-feet small. Will it work? Will there be a demand? The administration thinks so. Some developers agree. They may well be right.

But what if they’re wrong? That’s the problem with government-dictated policies. They may get it wrong, creating other unforeseen problems down the road. (Insert here obligatory reminder of the government’s role in tearing down the entire West End neighborhood.)

The administration is quick to note they’re not really mandating such tiny abodes. But, c’mon, a “request” by the mayor is virtually an “order” by the mayor in this town.

Again, the city may be onto something here. There really is a need for more affordable housing, though even these tiny-tot apartments technically don’t qualify as “affordable” housing. Why, we don’t know. Anyway, let’s see if the experiment works.

File under: Tiptoe through the tulips

The Boston Globe has a big story that looks at all the different apartment-building projects around the city.

The bottom line: About 5,000 units have been proposed, or work has already started on new units,  since the start of the year. The article has a link to an excellent graphic showing all the projects. It’s pretty amazing.

The Globe impressively adds up all the recent construction projects announced or under way in Boston, and concludes we’re seeing an apartment construction boom.

The numbers back up the claim: 850 units now under construction. Another 295 as of Monday when developers start yet another project. Those numbers don’t include the approximate 1,000 housing units, mostly apartments, that were under way before this fall season.

The main driver of the trend: a 4.2 percent apartment vacancy rate in the city and among the highest rents in the country.

This is all great for the city, renters and the hard-hit construction industry in particular.

File under: Build, and They Will Come

Developers across the city are unveiling plans for new apartment buildings. Notice what’s missing: new luxury condos.

No big surprise. But it is curious to see how completely the market has changed.

Luxury condos will make a comeback one day, probably sooner than people think. But it’s not going to happen this year or next.

File under: Time heals all wounds (except in Detroit)

The Boston Business Journal is reporting that the ownership structure of the Archstone Boston Common, 660 Washington Street, and Archstone Avenir, 101 Canal Street, could soon be changing. The nation-wide Archstone also owns eight other apartment properties in Massachusetts, including three in Cambridge.

From the BBJ:

“According to a Wall Street Journal report Thursday, Archstone’s owners — an affiliation of entities including Barclays Capital , Bank of America Corp.and the estate of Lehman Brothers Holdings — are debating whether to sell the multibillion-dollar company or potentially spin it out through an initial public stock offering.”

Ah, good old Lehman Brothers. You knew its ghost had to be around somewhere.

File under: Gone, but not forgotten