𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗛𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 Want to know why “missing middle” apartments (2–6 stories) rarely pencil out in the U.S.? Look at the staircase. + $300,000 for a second staircase in a typical 6-story building + $258,000 on a 4-story building 7% of floor space lost to hallways + shafts — that’s square footage you can’t lease Up to 10% higher total project cost when you layer in lost units + design constraints Land is fixed. Space is money. Every foot handed over to code-mandated egress is a foot you can’t rent. Double stairs = double-loaded corridors. That means fewer windows, fewer flexible layouts, and fewer family-sized units. The deal dies at the margin. On tight urban lots, a 10% cost swing can flip a project from feasible to dead. Times are changing…. 15+ states are now pushing single-stair reforms (up to 6 stories). Developers are recalculating pro formas — and the numbers are eye-opening. Life-safety tech (sprinklers, alarms, smoke control) makes single-stair design as safe as double-stair, according to advocates. If you want more affordable housing without subsidies, stop value-engineering the countertops. Start by trimming the stairs. 7% more rentable space + six-figure CapEx savings = real affordability gains. –– Links + sources in the comments.