‘Spiritual concierges’ lift younger home buyers to higher plane
US REAL estate developers have started throwing in “spiritual concierge” services as part of a package to appeal to millennial buyers.
High-end developments in cities from Los Angeles to New York are offering meditation, healers and shamans to cater for the “wellness” generation. A “spiritual concierge” can set residents up with anything from full moon intention ceremonies to sound baths.
Eran Polack, developer of Maverick in New York, was sceptical when his marketing team first proposed the idea.
“I’m not a spiritual person, I have to be honest with you,” he told The New York Times.
“I’m a real estate developer trying to build a building and a programme people will enjoy.”
But Mr Polack said he thought spiritual offerings could appeal to millennial buyers, who place more of an emphasis on mental health and are looking for more perks than yoga and pilates classes.
A mixture of the Covid-19 pandemic and record temperatures has pushed many people out of America’s biggest cities, creating competition to attract buyers.
A new development in Columbus, Ohio, is even offering a Transcendental Meditation centre.
“The physical health thing is important – we have gyms, we have trainers and yoga studios and running clubs,” said Brett Kaufman, founder of the
Gravity Project. “But we believe we need to treat the mental health and spiritual side of things with the same level of importance.”
He also has plans to bring mental health professionals, therapists and life coaches on-site.
Gardenhouse in Beverly Hills, which boasts the largest “living wall” in America and strives for “enlightened urban living”, hosts monthly spiritual experiences tied to lunar cycles.
Its “full moon intention ceremony”, which features sage burning, encourages residents to release any repressed emotions by writing them down in a journal.
Some of the developments have spiritual experts on call to consult residents upon request.