This startup is trying to create the ideal roommate experience — here's what it's like inside its new 51-bedroom Brooklyn building

General Assembly cofounder Brad Hargreaves wants you to stop fighting with your roommates.

His new company, Common, is one of a few "co-living" startups that have sprung up in places like New York and San Francisco, designed to bring the tech ethos to bear on the idea of communal living. On Saturday, Common opened by far its biggest project to date, a 51-bedroom complex in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood.

Co-living is just a fancy way of saying living with people other than your family, and Hargreaves explains that the idea behind Common isn't meant to be revolutionary. People sometimes approach Common like it's some completely new invention, he says. But really what he wants to do is craft the ideal roommate experience for someone who doesn't necessarily have an extended social network in New York to tap into (more than half of Common residents are first-time New Yorkers).

Common tries to do this by taking care of things that cause tension between roommates, like cleaning and buying communal furniture, and setting up the living situation in a way that encourages people to be social with their neighbors.

But Hargreaves doesn't like the comparison to a "dorm for adults." He says that implies things like shared bedrooms (none of the bedrooms at Common are shared except for couples) and flimsy furniture. But despite his protests, the co-living idea does seem meant to recapture the spirit of dorm life, where it's easy to hang out with your neighbors and make new friends — just with greatly upgraded amenities (and a price to match). 

Here's how it works:

Common's new building in Williamsburg has 51 bedrooms, which are subdivided into 12 furnished suites. It was 80% full before launch.

To become a Common "member" you have to apply. But Hargreaves (right) and design head Sophie Wilkinson (left) say the main criteria is simply whether you want to be part of the community. They aren't trying to place people together who share interests (or work in tech).

A room in Common's new building costs $1,800 - $2,300 per-month for a 12-month stay (more if you want to lock in for just 3 or 6 months). That's probably more than you would pay in a standard Craigslist situation, though not outrageous given the neighborhood (the average one-bedroom in Williamsburg is around $3,000).