Renters Want Amenities That Enhance Life
PALM SPRINGS, CA-From technology to pet services to yoga rooms, apartment amenities that make their lives better and easier are more important to today’s multifamily tenants than unit size, said panelists at NMHC’s Apartment Strategies Outlook Conference here yesterday. The speakers discussed the generational shift in apartment renters and the target renter for today’s newly developed apartments.
Scott Wise, executive managing director of Greystar Real Estate Partners LLC, said his firm looks at income, education and age when determining who its target renter is. Greystar develops
predominantly in urban centers, where Millennials are “just pouring in. The have incomes, they may have gotten stung by trying to buy a home, they’re career focused and are putting off marriage.”
Ken Valach, CEO of Trammell Crow Residential, said Millennials who put off marriage are not buying houses, which bodes well for the apartment market. Meanwhile, the other end of the renter “barbell,” Baby Boomers, are having a slower effect on the rental market. “There’s been a bifurcation on incomes: affluent Millennials are moving into apartments, while affluent Baby Boomers are not being forced to move.”
Toby Bozzuto, president of the Bozzuto Group, commented that he sees Baby Boomers as an important rental demographic, but what matters more than the specific demographic is creating a product that has “emotional resonance with customers. What we’re trying to create is a product that will attract that customer; we don’t design new product to draw in a new demographic.”
Meanwhile, Sean Breslin, COO of AvalonBay Communities Inc., explained that his firm builds product that’s great for everyone, but not targeted to any specific demographic. “We decided to focus on attracting three groups: the affluent customer, the value-seeker and youthful urban socials.” The firm’s develops three brands of multifamily product that address these groups.
Before developing a project, most of the panelists said they bring in the best market research firm, then local teams with a top-down strategy. “We look at each product individually,” said Wise. “We’re more focused on services than the product itself; maybe a spin room, maybe a spin instructor. The services are as important as the product.”
Valach said his firm focuses on technology—the cell phone has to work in the unit—and services such as a place for tenants to keep their dog during the day. Breslin’s firm offers a pet spa, bike bar and, in its high-end communities, high-end amenities. Wise mentioned yoga rooms as an example of a service for people who “work hard and want to work and play. Any way you can take away the noise—their time is valuable to them.”
When discussing experimenting with different unit types and sizes, Bozzuto spoke of a “project within a project” in Downtown Baltimore that featured top floors devoted to Baby Boomers looking for a downtown lifestyle. This method allows developers to try out a variety of options on a few units to test it out.
This article originally appeared on GlobeST.com
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