What Renters Want with Jessica Fiur: The Problem With Some Amenities
Striking a balance between good-in-theory amenities, and way-too-popular amenities.
By Jessica Fiur, Senior Editor
Theoretically, you could have a community that is 100 percent leased even though it doesn’t offer any amenities. After all, amenities are just the icing—the “cake” of an apartment is a safe place where people can live. That’s all. And plenty of apartment buildings are just that—apartments with no frills.
But, as we all know, the icing is always the best part. Especially if there are a lot of other, similar, apartment communities around, you have to have good amenities just to stay competitive. But this is where you can run into some problems.
Some of the newest amenities could wind up being fads. (Remember when every community had to have a tennis court?) Or they can sound awesome in theory, but then no one ends up using it. (That golf simulator is looking a little dusty, isn’t it?)