Can Building-Amenities Build Community?

"People always accuse boards of not communicating," observes Leslie Winkler, director of management at Penmark Realty, which manages The Orion. "With these kind of daily social interactions … the residents tend to see the board in a different light, while the board can hear the owners’ concerns not just at an annual meeting, when people are screaming at them, but on a daily basis."

Other Orion amenities include such outsourced operations as concierge service (run by Abigail Michaels Concierge) and an indoor pool and gym (see above) with nutritional seminars, and massage services (run by La Palestra).

Costs are passed along in the monthly carrying charges. "It’s not inexpensive," Penmark's Winkler says — yet people are willing to pay for them. Amenities are in, and they can add an edge to apartment resale value. "If some of the older buildings have space to put in gyms, many of them are doing it," notes Winkler. "It’s a major draw in these new buildings. People like to have these health club facilities."

One such older property, The Pythian on West 70th Street in Manhattan, already has a children’s playroom. Now the condo board and the managing agent, Bellmarc Realty, are looking to carve additional storage space out of an old boiler room, and to distribute a questionnaire to residents to see about turning part of its community room into a workout area.

Elsewhere, existing complexes can outsource to providers such as American Pool Management in Amityville, Long Island, which builds and maintains condo pools in three boroughs. "[W]e do the opening, closing, chemicals, parts, repairs, products and [provide] lifeguards," says company president James Luty, who attends condo board meetings when asked.

"I remember when amenities in a building were just a laundry room and a doorman," recalls Steven Charno, principal at Clinton Management, which oversees 555 West 23rd Street. The amenities there include a large party room and a lobby ATM.

Department of Environmental Luxuriation

Indeed, even a fully equipped gym and pool might be considered passé, with the trend now toward "environmental spas."

Miravel New York, a condo going on East 72nd Street, is part of Arizona's Miravel resort corporation, and offers a resort-style spa that can give residents full-day activities in ranging from nutrition counseling and food prep to children’s yoga to classes in candle- and and jewelry-making.

Another building has the "Aqua Grotto," an amenity created by the Nanuet, N.Y.-based American Leisure. A resident can take an elevator ride and find oneself in an "experiential shower" that simulates a tropical rain shower, complete with sound effects and smells. As with other spa providers, American Leisure not only installs the computer-operated environments but also services and maintains them.

And at Solaria Riverdale, designer Doug Korff topped the building with the city’s first high-powered telescope. The height (20 stories) and the relative darkness (it faces the Palisades across the Hudson) help make this practical, says Korff, who adds that an amateur astronomers’ group and a consultant from the Museum of Natural History’s Rose Planetarium will regularly calibrate it.

When it comes to gyms and other health facilities, of course, certain cautions apply. Doug Heller, a partner at the law firm of Herrick, Feinstein, says condos have to make tough decisions about whether to allow unsupervised children to use a pool, letting teenagers use a gym or even whether to stock free weights, which are prone to be involved in mishaps.

At the moment, health-facility insurance premiums are relatively low, and most buildings’ underlying liability policies are sufficient. Yet, as Heller notes, a pending court case, Pekelmaya vs. Allyn, may affect condo liability in the event of accidents. Two men hit by falling debris from a Morningside Heights condo sued the board, which had $2 million in liability insurance — not enough for damages, the men claimed. The lower courts have thus far sided with the building, but until the case is decided, its affect on condos' liability insurance remains murky.

As for the cost of maintaining facilities, in a large building it can be amortized over enough units not to make it onerous. Steve Kass, CEO of American Leisure, points out that a good gym membership in New York City costs at least $1,000. "The common charge for these kinds of facilities is only $50 to $100 per unit," Kass said. "So even at the high end — say, $1,200 per year — you’re getting much more than [at] the best fitness club [for] a lot less money."

On the other hand, Penmark’s Winkler observes that many older co-ops see no need to "freshen up" with the bells and whistles of such amenities. "There’s a type — take a Fifth Avenue or a Park Avenue building — that doesn’t care about amenities at all," he says from experience with both old-school and nouveau buildings. But, he notes, "All things being equal, the building with the amenities might be more appealing."

Adapted from Habitat July/August 2007. For the complete article and more, join our Archive >>