It’s no secret that multifamily amenities can be the reason a community secures a new lease or loses one to their neighborhood comp. What prospective renters look for in a rental is always changing, and along with that, so is the amenity stack offered at different apartment and condominium homes.
“One of the hardest decisions for multifamily teams is what mix of amenities to put into a project. A lot depends on the type of community, the geographic market, local recreation preferences, climate conditions, availability and cost of land, and of course the budget. But getting the amenity mix right is crucial to the ultimate success of your project,” states Robert Cassidy, editor of Multifamily Design & Construction.
To help make sure your amenity mix is right, we’ve broken down some key takeaways from a report that was shared from Multifamily Design & Construction which discusses the top 131 amenities that Developers, Property Owners, Architects, Contractors and Builders are providing in today’s apartment and condo communities.
COVID has changed the way residents use amenities causing a shift in the idea that community amenities need to be physical and tangible. Because of this, convenience service amenities are on the rise in 2021, and will continue to grow in popularity moving forward in 2022.
“We had to remove some things, like the free coffee bar in response to COVID,” said a respondent.
Today’s renters are looking for a community that offers more than just physical amenities like a pool or gym. Renters want convenient services that cater to their lifestyle. Falling in the top ten convenience services, bicycle storage ranked first. As a growing means of transportation and hobby for many, bicycle storage has reigned supreme for four years, according to the report.
Coming in at #2, inbound package delivery (like Fetch!) is steadily growing in popularity for convenient amenity services. Over the past four years, 63.3% of respondents said it was a top service in 2021 as compared to 50% in 2019. In only two years, inbound package delivery services grew in marketability by a whopping 13.6%.
Multifamily Design & Construction urges property managers, builders and developers to “get your amenities right.” The report reshapes the ideas of what the industry has previously thought residents want in homes; opening the door for Owners and Operators to repurpose the community’s square footage that has been dedicated to old community offerings and make room for new amenities that are growing in desirability and can set a community apart from local comps. To read the full report from Multifamily Design and Construction, find it here.
