With community spaces and features never so important, owners and operators are spending extra effort on apartment extras.
‘Give them what they want’ could be a good multifamily maxim. Apartment operators must go beyond meeting renter needs, with the main driver being resident retention increasingly warranting amenity-rich community spaces.
But renter habits and preferences change — especially since the pandemic — and not all amenities are created (or received) equally. The challenge for multifamily owners and managers is getting the amenity package right and then finding a way to generate revenue from those areas, according to Bisnow’s Studio B.
Extras & Externals
To create bonus revenue streams from amenities, multifamily operators can charge for extras. Residents could receive limited access to an amenity per their lease agreement — Studio B uses the example of 10 hours per week in a coworking space — and then be charged for any additional time.
Also, multifamily communities can take a page from the events venue book by leasing out spaces to people, including externally. Who hasn’t been to a clubhouse and pool area for a birthday, graduation or anniversary party? Lee Miller, Studio B contributor, adds, “If you have a wider [apartment] portfolio, you could allow people from other properties in your portfolio to pay to use amenities in another property.”
Knowing Who’s Going
Every marketing pro knows the importance of the move and measure approach, i.e., capturing metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of tactics and campaigns. The same goes for the all-important apartment amenity game.
“The biggest struggle for a property manager is knowing what’s going to resonate with residents,” says Miller about a range of amenities from traditional meeting rooms and cafes to bowling alleys and golf simulators. “These spaces aren’t cheap so they need to make sure they’re investing in amenities that not only attract residents but are really used when people move in.”
Apartment operators should look to technology that both facilitates a seamless experience and crunches the numbers on amenity use for enhanced operator analytics. It’s not enough to have a booking platform that facilitates the management of amenities, they also should demand tools that help monetize those spaces.
Technology-enabled and tracked from season to season and property to portfolio, the optimized apartment amenities mean greater ROI and efficiency, as well as enhanced staffing benefits. A cloud-based system frees up leasing agents from the booking responsibility when residents want to reserve a space, Miller notes, and amenity usage analytics can help operators with personnel deployment.
“We’ve discussed the top multifamily amenities before, and those become even more important in this new post-pandemic chapter of live-work-play for multifamily,” said Michael Rivera, Infinitee’s creative director. “To maximize rental revenue, it’s critical to not only get those community differentiators right, but to also manage them the right way. Partnering with a community branding leader committed to strong collaboration and innovative, creative, highly engaging, and high-impact strategies will help.