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A new type of housing -- tiny townhouses -- is going up in West Seattle

SEATTLE — A new type of town house is going up in West Seattle. The homes are only 640 square feet, but the expected price -- $400,000 and up -- is still catching people off guard.

Seattle’s first “row home” is taking shape in the North Delridge neighborhood, at 21st and Andover.

“The neighborhood's been building up more and more and more,” said Dan, a longtime West Seattle neighborhood.

There are eight units and each 640-square-foot town house.

The general contractor, New Image Construction & Renovation, gave KIRO7 a look inside. There are three floors -- a basement bedroom and bathroom, the main floor, and an upstairs loft bed and bath with a larger-than-normal balcony the builder calls a mezzanine.

“There really isn't anything in the town house market that is at the smaller scale,” said Justin Kliewer, with Cleve Architecture and Design.

But the price is still unknown. The people behind the project say it's too early to tell -- but say they're hoping to put the units on the market at just over $400,000. And that could go up depending on construction costs.

“I wouldn't pay that, I'd move out of the city and to the suburbs,” said Christine Jarboe, who was working in West Seattle near the project. “You're paying all this money but you don't get any space for it."

Kliewer said the idea for the units sprang up in light of the number of people getting priced out of buying a home in Seattle. He said these units give people a chance to own a home for a price lower than what you can find on the market.

“It wouldn't fulfill what we consider 'affordable housing,' but it's more filling the missing gap,” Kliewer said. “This is one way to do it. And it's controversial, but putting more units on each site adds density."

Some say it's good to have options in the housing market.

“As long as people get choices then it's up to the people,” said Rich Firman, who lives in Tacoma but was in the neighborhood Friday.

“I think it's too bad. I think it's not fair, especially for people born and raised in Seattle that can’t afford to live in the own city they grew up in,” Jarboe said.

Cleve is also working on some small square footage town homes in Ballard on 56th Street, but they won't be as small as the ones in West Seattle.

Construction for the row homes should be done by October.

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