Developers offer lavish kid amenities
Two metal swings attached to a couple of rusty poles are no longer major attractions at apartment communities and housing developments.
Developers are beginning to compete with each other by seeing who can offer the most lavish amenities to children.
The September 1, 2006 article, “Developers' New Perk: Dinosaur Bones,” written by Christina S.N. Lewis of the Wall Street Journal, explores these new attractions and how they are marketing towards their target audience; parents.
New developments are targeting Type A parents with child’s play. Builders and developers started this technique during the real estate housing boom a few years ago because they had additional funds to play with and rents were becoming more expensive. Now that the market is in a “cooling” phase, these amenities have become an important marketing strategy to promote their properties.
“In Lakewood, Colo., the developers of Belmar, a mixed-use downtown community, spent $600,000 on a kidney-shaped ice-skating rink and $200,000 on an interactive water fountain with an 11-ton, six-foot-high granite ball that children can rotate. At One Carnegie Hill on New York City's Upper East Side, a just-completed luxury building where one-bedrooms start at $895,000, the amenities include two play houses on the roof with child-size loft-style furniture. Even Donald Trump is thinking family friendly: His recently announced Trump Hollywood, a 40-story oceanfront glass tower in Hollywood Beach, Fla., where three-bedroom apartments start at $1.5 million, will feature an on-call children's nanny.”
Developers are adding these perks to gain attention from parents, as parents spend more on their children than ever before. “The cost of raising a child to age 18 is now $191,000 for a middle-income family, a 15% increase from five years ago, according to an annual survey by the Department of Agriculture.”
This marketing strategy is also becoming popular as developers are predicting the new market, which are children. You see it all over the news and tabloids; people are not as obsessed with skinny bodies and breast implants as they are with pregnancy and baby names.
Another thing is that many luxury condominium and apartment complexes become “mod” since the start of the century. Everything has become sleek, white and is equipped with house music. Paying attention to children is a fresh, new trend.
“Two years ago, Miami real-estate developer Bradley Arnowitz began planning his first condominium, a 15-story tower in the city's financial district that will have an all-glass façade, Italian-designed kitchens and a rooftop lounge. But Mr. Arnowitz says that six months ago, as the South Florida market was becoming saturated with luxury condos, he expanded the project's family-friendly aspects. He'll shrink the rooftop bar to make way for a children's pool and playground, and plans to add a separate kids-only activity room and an on-call baby-sitting service to the building. Mr. Arnowitz says he thinks the child-friendly approach has boosted interest in the building, called Glass Lofts, where apartment prices will range from the low $400,000s to the high $700,000s. ‘Every other angle has been marketed to death,” Arnowitz said.
Better yet, these amenities are attracting major endorsements. FAO Schwartz now offers to create playrooms in condominiums, condos and homes. Equinox Fitness is also planning a children's wellness program for residential buildings.
These developments also conjure up emotions of a family-friendly environment that, most importantly, is safe.
Developers are quickly realizing that the “money” is no longer in extravagant chandeliers and gold vases; the “money” is in jungle gyms.