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Chicago’s West Loop neighborhood is a thriving downtown nook for young workers, foodies and urban creatives turning warehouses into fashionable gathering spots. Many of its newer residents work hybrid or fully remote schedules, freeing them to build work around their community, and vice versa.
We recently bought a multifamily high-rise in the booming West Loop and made a few simple, cost-friendly changes to the public spaces that our renters desired. We shifted a public-space ethos from apartment-lobby cool to open-workspace warm, installing communal tables with charging stations and cornered desks for privacy.
Free, password-protected, high-speed Wi-Fi is available. The space is comfortable, and residents appreciate having a place to work outside their apartments.
The amenities race in multifamily housing has turned some property owners into de facto cruise-ship builders, outfitting their buildings with yoga studios, pet runs, pickleball courts and whatever else might lure renters. But renters, properties and locations have different needs.
While the luxury market might appreciate an in-house screening room, a more affordable property demands an accessible laundry room with plenty of dryers.
Price, location and unit maintenance will continue to drive rental and retention rates. But amenities offer a differentiator. Here’s how property managers can identify new amenities in multifamily housing.
Know your market
Some multifamily amenities never go out of style, such as plenty of parking and functioning laundry facilities. Package storage lockers are a new essential. Beyond that, different markets require different amenities.
Today’s multifamily market threads across age brackets, wage scales and workforce demographics. Urban renters want 10th-floor fitness facilities with adjustable kettlebells, gravity treadmills and smart workout hubs.
They also want rooftop outdoor spaces with comfortable seating and perhaps a fire pit. Suburban renters certainly appreciate the workout gear and fire pit but also want outdoor spaces for their kids and pets to roam and play.
High-end renters are pitching for wellness spas and craft rooms, while mid-priced renters are comfortable with access to a pool and package-delivery room. Young renters working remotely desire coworking spaces in their buildings. Retirees (more than 7 million 65-and-older renters are in the market) seek the privacy and community that build-to-rent properties offer.
No singular collection of multifamily amenities (except maybe that package room) can please every demographic. Property owners should conduct surveys at least annually, and upon move-in and move-out, to tailor offerings to their residents.
Stay tech-focused
“Smart” is the new cool in multifamily housing. Property-wide Wi-Fi is essential. According to a National Multifamily Housing Council survey, 90 percent of respondents won’t rent a place without high-speed internet. That’s partly because residents are using Wi-FI beyond work and leisure.
Smart home technology is projected to be a $633 billion market by 2032 as people manage their living spaces with smart locks and appliances, Bluetooth-enabled thermostats, and energy-conserving technology. Renters want access to this tech as well, particularly those who appreciate the safety and sustainability such products promote.
Technology offerings go beyond opening a door with your phone. Residents can make rent payments, schedule maintenance, and receive delivery notifications via apps. Property owners can build out these apps to include outside vendors.
Consider contracting with cleaning companies, food-delivery and ride-share services, or concierge merchants to deliver a robust portal of providers for residents. Such apps also assist property managers in giving home tours, monitoring water and utility usage, and reducing noise complaints. Peace is an underrated apartment amenity that tech can help manage.
Get outdoors
Renters want to live life outside their living spaces, especially since they’re working from home. The intersection is unique and requires a balance for multifamily operators to consider. While renters desire more tech to individualize their indoor living experience, they also crave the communal and the outdoors.
“Collaborative coworking spaces and amenities that make working from home convenient have become increasingly popular,” Lindsay Jacobs, senior vice president of marketing at RPM Living, told “Multi-Housing News.” “Residents continue to look for opportunities to connect and network with each other and providing the space to make that happen is key to resident satisfaction.”
Multifamily properties are taking their outdoor spaces beyond pools, playgrounds and barbeque facilities. Some owners are installing pickleball courts and gardens where space allows. In urban markets, the rooftop terrace (with a fire pit) is popular. Residents with dogs appreciate runs and relief stations.
Looking for a new trend in outdoor amenities? Try a beehive. Best Bees installs and manages hives at multifamily properties, offering tours and events, presentations about bees and sustainability, and, of course, branded honey.
Create experiences
Studies consistently show that renters renew at higher rates, and are willing to pay higher rents, when they make friends at home. This is called the “friendship factor,” and it’s real. Property managers help foster community engagement by sponsoring events and experiences that bring people together.
At our properties, we encourage managers to host regular events. These can be weekly breakfast get-togethers, barbecues or Happy Hours. They can be seasonal events; one of our properties held a pumpkin-carving contest at Halloween. And they can be service-oriented events, such as clothing drives for churches and outreach centers or food drives for local pantries.
“A sense of community and belonging is increasingly important to residents,” Sharon Hatfield, COO of multifamily asset services Americas for Cushman & Wakefield, told the National Apartment Association. “By investing in these areas, we’ve seen measurable improvements in resident retention rates across our properties.”
In multifamily housing, the amenities race is more competitive, and quirkier, than ever. We truly don’t know where this trend is headed. Could we have predicted IV drips and Botox treatments as a multifamily service? What about rock-climbing walls, podcast studios or a private subway entrance?
The key for property managers is understanding their residents and markets. If cat grooming builds loyalty, open a feline salon. If your renters are stargazers, buy a telescope. However, multifamily operators also must know that trends are fickle and vogue fades. Build a community around your amenities, not vice versa.
Michael H. Zaransky is the founder and managing principal of MZ Capital Partners in Northbrook, Illinois. Founded in 2005, the company deals in multifamily properties.
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