APARTMENT LIVING
Amenities such as fitness rooms, communal gardens are nice, but are they essential, asks Diana Clement
Apartment buildings come with all manner of amenities, those features. of a building that you wouldn’t expect to find everywhere. Common amenities are pools, fitness rooms, concierge desks, visitor carparks, libraries, double glazing, air conditioning, rooftop gardens, and BBQs.
Newer high end buildings such as The Pacifica and 51 Albert come with a long list of amenities that will make them desirable for owner occupiers who are downsizing from the family home, says Stuart Robertson, sales manager at Bayleys City Living. That can include hotel facilities such as concierge desks, and media rooms, for example.
Visitor parking is important in particular for older owner occupiers, he says.
Robertson points out, however, that you get what you pay for. With a $1million-plus apartment in The Turing in Grey Lynn you get a desirable residents’ garden, for example.
At the other end of the scale in the large developments on Nelson Street you may have few or no amenities. It’s not uncommon to have single glazing and no air conditioning in buildings built in the 1990s and 2000s.
What’s more, amenities aren’t always a good thing. They may not add too much to the purchase price of the apartment. The more amenities there are, however, the greater the annual body corporate fees, thanks to the increased cost of running the common areas.
“An apartment (building) with a pool and a gym and other amenities is going to push the body corporate charges up,” says Robertson.
“While these amenities are a nice to have buyers on a fixed budget don’t always think they are essential.”
At the cheaper end of the market some of the gyms and pools are token gestures rather than amenities. Sometimes it’s best to buy a cheaper apartment and join the gym around the corner.
Even at the higher end of the market there are different demands, says Robertson. Someone downsizing to an apartment as their main dwelling may want more amenities than the person who has a lock up and leave property.
If you plan to let the apartment to tenants the amenities on your shopping list will be more limited than owner occupiers because your return on investment is paramount.
While pools and fitness centres are nice in the rental market, they rarely make a difference when trying to let a lower-end apartment, says Shanon Aitken, business development manager at Crockers Property.
The reality is that these facilities are often small, not that practical and a costly addition to body corporate fees, which can lower the yield on an apartment.
The one single amenity that tenants want and will make an apartment easier to let at any price point is air conditioning, says Aitken.
Higher up, however, in the executive rental market there is a greater demand for a concierge desk and other amenities.