No longer just a place to live, upscale amenities are turning dwellings into lifestyles.
By Daniel Heimpel
The world is becoming a series of pods: As empty nesters and young professionals continue their rush to the cities, condo developers are planning ever-growing towers to accommodate and indulge the influx of fussy buyers.
Buildings are getting taller, and the lures are getting more extravagant. Where buyers were once happy with having equity at a fraction of the price of single-family home, they now expect amenities.
During a hot day in Tempe, Ariz.—20 minutes outside of Phoenix—you can step off the sand of a man-made beach and into cool chlorinated water on the seventh floor of the huge, $600 million Centerpoint condominium complex. Besides the beach, amenities include a bar, spa, fitness center and several barbecue pits. Avenue Communities, Centerpoint’s developer, markets the seventh floor as a “backyard.” The “front yard” is all the shops and restaurants on the lobby level.
The condo industry has been affected by the stutters and starts of the real estate market across the country. The National Association of Home Builders says that a high of 151,000 condos were built in 2006. In 2007, the number dropped to 129,000. Despite the drop, the condo boom is just hitting its stride in midsize cities like St. Louis, Omaha and Milwaukee. And wherever a new building is built, developers are enticing buyers with amenities.
“A concierge is an absolute must nowadays,” says Larry Weiss, a Coldwell Banker real estate agent who focuses on downtown Milwaukee’s condo market. “The new developments also have exercise, party and media rooms.”
And that is just the start. Today’s developers are creating more than just places to live; they’re fostering entire lifestyles. It seems like it won’t be long before people never have to leave their buildings. They will be pods with pumped air and all the social interaction and stimulation to pass a lifetime.
“Developers create projects architecturally,” says Christopher Kritzman, senior vice president of Novare Group, a large urban developer based in Atlanta. “We socially engineer our buildings.”
Kritzman explains that the buyers Novare focuses on are 25 to 40 years old and looking for a total social experience. Club rooms, fitness centers, game rooms, theaters and galleries, like those at its Tampa property, SkyPoint, and Viridian in Nashville, give young professionals the opportunity to see and be seen without really leaving home. “It’s all about how these amenities make for a better life.”
In Milwaukee, the old Blatz Brewery was converted into the high-end Blatz Condominiums with a two-floor exercise room, an indoor lap pool and café. In Kansas City, the recently renovated Greenlease Cadillac Building boasts a climate-controlled garage and a baby grand piano in the lobby. And lofts in Denver’s Riverfront Tower are hooked up with a full concierge service.
But Kritzman warns that sometimes developers go overboard, providing amenities that are simply impractical. “A development may have a cigar room, and maybe you like the novelty.
But then you move in and realize you and your neighbors aren’t using it, but [you’re] still paying for it in your HOA [Home Owners’ Association] dues,” he says.
As the market becomes more restrained and buyers are less inclined to spend on useless extravagances, they can use unnecessary amenities to lobby for a lower price point or relief on HOA dues. “As buyers become more practical, overly done amenities can backfire,” Kritzman says.
At some point the private concierges who take out dry cleaning may become too much of an indulgence. Today’s condo buyers want a sense of community more than anything else, according to realtors and developers.
As our daily lives get busier, a high-rise condo’s ability to encapsulate a variety pleasures under one roof is sure to continue to be a great selling point in the future.
AWESOME AMENITIES
A doorman and a laundry room don’t cut it for condo buyers addicted to topflight amenities.
• Pools with man-made beaches
• Saunas
• Full concierge with laundry and grocery service
• Media rooms with iPod docks, wireless access and plasma screens
• Wineries, which condo members can join
• Cigar lounges
• Massage services
• Pet care
• Outdoor entertaining areas with space for dining area, fireplace, plasma TV and full kitchen
• Wine cellars with personal wine lockers for residents
• Valet parking
