JBG Companies Says New Luxury Rental Will be Smoke-Free

Eugene Gilligan, Contributing Writer

Rockville, Md.–The Alaire at Twinbrook Station, a new development by JBG Cos., will be a smoke-free community. The 279-unit luxury apartment complex is now two months into lease-up, and Anthony Greenberg, a vice-president at JBG, says he is pleased with the results so far.

The Alaire going smoke-free is what he called “a logical step” for the building, because health and sustainability are two focal points of the project.

The apartment complex is located near a transit station, has a large fitness center, and low VOC paints were used in the apartments, Greenberg says.

“We want to promote a healthy climate, inside and out,” Greenberg says. “We saw this as the next thing we could do,” he says, noting that the no-smoking provision is written into the lease.

Many apartment communities do not have no-smoking provisions, and he admitted that the restriction will turn away some prospective tenants. “It can be tough to say no to renters,” he says, but he believes that on balance, the restriction will ultimately attract more tenants than it will lose.

In June, 2008, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, a national group representing all aspects of the building ventilation industry, issued a position paper that determined: “A total ban on indoor smoking is the only effective means of controlling the health risks associated with ETS [environmental tobacco smoke] exposure].”

The Alaire is the first phase of Twinbrook Station, which will house 2.2 million square feet of mixed-use space, and will include 1,595 multifamily residential units. The Alaire, which will have its grand opening on May 15 and 16, includes 279 one-and two-bedroom rental apartments, as well as approximately 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. One-bedroom units start at $1,600 per month, with two bedroom units starting at $2,100.