Aligning CapEx Projects To Apartment Amenity Trends

Aligning CapEx Projects To Apartment Amenity Trends

 
As a result of the strong economy, more and more apartment owners are investing in capital improvements, also commonly called CapEx Projects. In many cases, these projects are necessary to extend the useful life of the building, but do not truly improve the property for residents. Even though a new commercial roof is great, it typically doesn’t make prospective renters sign a lease.

While projects that keep the building operational take precedent, apartment managers and owners should also explore CapEx projects that improve a property’s appeal. Aligning CapEx projects to apartment amenity trends is critically important to making a property attractive to renters. Since apartment amenity trends change over time, Property Manager Insider outlined 3 types of CapEx projects that align with apartment amenity trends in 2020.

Increasing Connectivity

 
Connectivity refers to an apartment building’s mobile phone reception and internet speed. While boosting mobile phone signal strength can be tough, there are great CapEx projects to increase internet speeds. In fact, older buildings have plenty of options to increase internet speed.

Since older WiFi equipment was not built to handle thousands of connected devices throughout a building, one simple project is upgrading the old WiFi equipment. Another project is installing fiber optic cabling or rewiring the building to remove old coaxial or copper wiring.

To read even more about apartment connectivity, and why it is so important in 2020, click here.

Build Out Co-Working Space

 
Another important trend in apartment amenities is having work spaces that appeal to remote workers. This is because almost 59% of apartment residents work remotely, according to a study from the National Multifamily Housing Council. As a result, a great CapEx project that aligns with apartment amenity trends is renovating or building out a co-working space. This will position a property to appeal long term to the growing number of remote workers.

It must be noted that a great co-working space, requires strong internet speeds. Otherwise residents will not be able to work efficiently, which can actually make the space a source of frustration. This post goes into greater detail on the benefits of coworking spaces for multifamily properties.

Transform The Fitness Center

 
Another great CapEx project that can get an apartment property on trend with the latest amenities is a fitness center renovation. While renovating an apartment fitness center, keep a focus on health and wellness. This means more than just new equipment. A health and wellness center will include space for all types of workouts. Consider this data showing what percent of residents said a fitness center item was either important or very important to them:

  • 83.9% Exercise Machines
  • 78.7% Free Weights
  • 70.9% Weight Machines
  • 45% TRX Equipment
  • 44.8% CrossFit Equipment
  • 40.0% Yoga Studio/Space
  • 38.8% Fitness Classes

While machines and equipment remain the most important, workout specific equipment for TRX training and CrossFit are becoming more important to residents. This type of project is also a great way to increase your apartment’s fitness center use.

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