Common space vs storage space

Storage hands down following closely by a gym. Community rooms are of use to very few people.

I agree. Everyone wants storage and you can charge a reasonable rental fee per trunk space. Guaranteed income.

Storage space, definitely.

Agree! Community rooms are a pain in the ass and as 300 notes, not of much use to most folks. Storage? Everyone needs that in NYC!

I'm going to be the contrarian here... storage is easy to outsource to another building, while having a place for the kids to play when it's raining is not.

But not everyone has children between 1 year and say 5 years old.

Hard to create entertainment space in an older building and do you want your kids playing in the basement?

Poker room.
Rake goes to the reserve fund.

@300, the people who do not have small kids are the people who ESPECIALLY do not want to see the kids playing in the lobby. They are also generally the people who are least tolerant of the noise of the kids cooped up in small apartments. It truly is a win for everyone.

Ali, It is a hard sell to people without young kids if the building does not already have common storage or a small gym. They will think keeping the kids quiet is the parents problem. Personally, I believe that kids should be able to make reasonable day/early evening noise without neighbors complaining as it is a part of normal childhood but I am probably in the minority.

Slightly different thought, most buildings do not have enough room in the lobby storage room to keep the increased number of packages the residents receive resulting in packages and drycleaning spilling out in to the lobby. Creating storage for packages and dry cleaning may be a very good use.

One problem with kids' playrooms is that generally a parent or other adult is required to be present while children are using the space. Parents may just prefer to have their kids play in the apartment, regardless of how small, rather than having to go and sit in a communal playroom watching the kids for an hour or so...