Downtown Memphis · Studios & One-Bedrooms

Studio & One-Bedroom Apartments in Downtown Memphis

Searching for a studio apartment in downtown Memphis or a one-bedroom apartment downtown? These are the most popular floor plans in the city center — efficient, affordable, and sized for one person or a couple who would rather invest in the neighborhood than in square footage they'll rarely use. The most rewarding place to rent one is a historic building in the heart of downtown, and that's exactly what you get at The Exchange Building, a 1910 landmark on Court Square Park.

A local leasing guide from The Exchange Building · 9 N 2nd Street, Memphis, TN 38103

Who studios and one-bedrooms suit

Small floor plans aren't a compromise — for a lot of people they're the smart play, especially downtown where the value is in where you live as much as how big the unit is. Three groups gravitate to studios and one-bedrooms in the city center:

• Singles and first-time renters who want their own place without paying for rooms they won't use. A studio or one-bedroom keeps rent manageable and leaves room in the budget for the restaurants, music, and games happening right outside.
• Young professionals drawn to a short or car-free commute. Living a few blocks from work — or from the trolley — turns the morning routine into a walk instead of a sit in traffic, and a one-bedroom gives you a quiet door to close when you're working from home.
• Downsizers and empty-nesters trading a house and a yard for a lock-and-leave lifestyle. After years of mowing and maintenance, a low-upkeep apartment within walking distance of culture, dining, and the riverfront is a genuine upgrade in quality of life.

What these renters share is a preference for location and ease over raw space. Downtown rewards that choice better than almost anywhere in Memphis, because the neighborhood does so much of the living for you.

Typical sizes and price ranges

Sizes vary by building and vintage, but these are realistic working ranges for downtown Memphis in 2026:

• Studios & efficiencies: roughly 400–650 sq ft, about $1,100–$1,500/month. One open room plus a bathroom; the kitchen lines a wall or tucks into a corner.
• One-bedrooms: roughly 600–900 sq ft, about $1,200–$1,800/month. A separate bedroom with a door, a defined living area, and usually a larger kitchen.
• Larger or "junior one-bedroom" layouts: in-between plans with an alcove or partial partition, priced toward the top of the studio range or the bottom of the one-bedroom range.

Two factors move the real number more than square footage: whether utilities are bundled (downtown, electricity and gas are typically separate, set up in your name with MLGW) and whether you're paying broker or finder fees. Leasing direct removes that markup entirely. For the full picture — deposits, parking, what's included — see our cost of renting in downtown Memphis guide.

Studio vs. one-bedroom: the tradeoffs

The honest difference between the two comes down to one thing — a door — and what that door is worth to you. Here's how to weigh it:

Choose a studio if…

• You want the lowest rent for the best location and you're rarely home anyway.
• You live simply and like the clean, gallery-like feel of one open space.
• You'd rather put the savings toward downtown life — dinners out, games, weekend trips.

Choose a one-bedroom if…

• You work from home and need to shut a door on the workday.
• You host guests, cook seriously, or simply want the bed out of the living room.
• You're a couple, or expect to be, and need the breathing room.

For most people the gap is only a couple hundred dollars a month, so the question isn't really "which is cheaper" — it's "is the privacy worth it to me right now?" There's no wrong answer, and many renters start in a studio and move up to a one-bedroom in the same building when their needs change.

Historic vs. new-build

Once you've settled on size, the next fork is character. New-build complexes — most of them on the edges of downtown or in the suburbs — sell amenities: a gym, a pool deck, a parking garage, a package room. Historic downtown buildings sell something you can't construct: architecture and a real address.

In a small unit, that distinction matters more than you'd expect. A 500-square-foot box with an eight-foot ceiling feels like a box. The same footage under tall windows and high ceilings, with deep sills and original detailing, feels like a proper home — light pours in, the eye travels up, and the space lives far larger than the floor plan suggests. That's the quiet advantage of a studio or one-bedroom in a building like The Exchange, and it's the main reason character buildings hold their appeal. If old-Memphis character is what draws you, read more in our guide to historic loft apartments downtown.

Making the most of a downtown studio

A well-set-up studio can feel surprisingly generous. A few principles that work especially well in high-ceilinged historic units:

1. Zone with furniture, not walls. Float a sofa or a low shelf to separate "living" from "sleeping" so the single room reads as two areas.
2. Go vertical. Tall windows beg for tall bookcases and hanging storage; use the height the room gives you instead of crowding the floor.
3. Pick double-duty pieces. A storage ottoman, a drop-leaf table, a bed with drawers underneath — every item that earns its footprint buys you space.
4. Keep the windows clear. Light is the studio's best feature. Lean into it and the place feels open; block it and even a big unit feels small.
5. Let the neighborhood be your extra rooms. Downtown is your gym, your dining room, and your park. When the city is your living room, you simply don't need as much of your own.

That last point is the whole philosophy of small-space downtown living — and it's only true when you're genuinely in the middle of everything. Which brings us to the building.

The Exchange's classic units

The Exchange Building rose in 1910 as the shared home of the Memphis Cotton and Merchants Exchanges — the trading floor of the "cotton capital of the world." Today the landmark lives on as downtown residences, and its studios and one-bedrooms are the kind of classic, light-filled units that small-space living was made for: tall windows, high ceilings, and real architectural character wrapped around an efficient footprint at 9 North Second Street.

Just as important is how you rent here. You lease direct with an on-site team — no broker fees, transparent pricing, and a modern, self-serve process: submit a quick inquiry, get a private portal, tour, apply, and message the office from your phone. Layouts and availability change, so the best move is simply to ask what's open. Learn the full story in our Exchange Building apartments guide, or explore the wider market in the pillar guide to downtown Memphis apartments for rent.

The value of a central, walkable location

Here's the math that makes a downtown studio or one-bedroom worth it: when you live in the core, your apartment doesn't have to do everything, because the neighborhood does. From The Exchange on Court Square Park, you can walk to live music on Beale Street, baseball at AutoZone Park, basketball at FedExForum, sunsets along the Mississippi riverfront, the Main Street trolley, and the Renasant Convention Center — all without starting a car.

That walkability is the real amenity, and it's one the Downtown Memphis Commission has spent years strengthening. A compact unit in the center of it all beats a bigger unit you have to drive away from — you spend less on rent, less on gas, and more of your time actually enjoying the city. For more on getting around without a car, see getting around downtown Memphis; when you're ready to apply, our how to lease downtown guide walks through every step.