coop amenities - what would you want?

Game room with ping pong table!

I live in New York City, where pretty much every thing I could want is easily accessible. Why would I want to load my own building down with the expense and space of pools, gyms, movie rooms, yoga rooms, kiddie rooms, golf rooms and such, many of which will be out of date in X years (golf rooms, really?)? I'll take, in order, commercial space that generates consistent income for the building, attentive and effective building staff, a clean and well equipped laundry room, a storage bin, and (distant last) a furnished roof deck.

storage and pool

1) A debt-free balance sheet.

2) A competent board of directors.

Zero. I would not buy in any building larded with useless amenities. It will be interesting to see what happens when these buildings need to spend $1MM to refurbish the gyms and other nonsense in 10 years. If you call them amenities, then No. 1 would be parking, that is accessible to the freight elevator, which I had at my old rental building and was immensely convenient. No. 2 would be storage, but also only useful if accessible by elevator. In both cases, and in all cases of building "amenities," they should be charged at full market rates.

Good feedback so far. I too am a believer that amenities should be charged at market rates where applicable. Why should all tenants be subsidizing discounted services that only a few may be taking advantage of.

@flarf, I am talking about coops on planet earth. Not sure what planet you are finding debt free balance sheets and competent boards! :)

Just to play Devil's Advocate, I don't think there really is a way to have amenities all as a "pay as you go"/ only for those who pay. What money and space are you going to use to build them? Are you going to build a common roofdeck using common elements of the building and only let those who have made capital contributions towards building the deck use it? And what happens when units trade hands? You only let those who bought units from people who contributed? And when the roof below the deck needs replacing, who pays the cost to lift up and replace the deck?
And how do you compensate the people who's amenity project you didn't do, but used the space for others? I find them in the same position as people in a building with below market rate parking but not enough spots for everyone (except everyone on the Board with a car).

1. Laundry room - especially if no washer dryers in units. Way above anything else
2. Storage
3. Basic gym

Most useless golf simulator, movie theater

To some extent I think it depends on the mix of units in the building. If you had all studios and 1 BRs in the building I could see a social movie/TV room and not a kid's playroom, whereas if it were all 3 and 4 BRs it would be the other way around.

How much money do I have? If I'm in a luxury building I want a pool, and I don't need a laundry room because my laundry is probably in-unit; if I'm in a more budget-aware building, then I don't want to pay for a pool -- but I do want a laundry room, a children's playroom, and extra storage.

I think common outdoor space (whether a roof deck or a garden) is nice for the community in either case.

Ali, While what you say is generally true, would you prefer storage (call it 6x8x8) or a pool if you could only get one of these. I think pool, which will usually come with a good gym, if you do not mind extra $300-500 per month cost for a 3 bedroom and probably $100-200k upfront extra.

(1) Laundry
(2) Storage
(3) Gym
(4) Roof deck
Personally I would avoid buildings with other amenities, but we have friends with three young children who just left their bare bones coop for a fully-loaded condo, and judging by the Instagram photos, it has been worth every extra dollar they pay for pool and play room. The kids look like they are having a ball in the new set-up.

Ground floor income :)

I have a pool in my building with a great gym, huge setback terraces on the 45th, 46th floor. The sponsor put the gym on the high floors because at the time Battery Park City was a new area and he wanted to lure buyers. The views are incredible. It also has a big community room. When it's freezing outside, it really comes in handy. It was drop dead renovated two years ago. If one needs to work out everyday a gym such as this is a must.
Also there is a laundry on every floor, and a few other amenities.

Bike room.

I think we have settled that no one can agree on amenities.

1) Decent size storage cages.
2) Are we calling an elevator an amenity?

Sounds like it is:

Laundry
Storage
Gym
Pool
Community Space
Golf/Movie Theater

I would add being a non-smoking building to the list. I know, that limits the pool of potential buyers a little, but to be able to guarantee you will never smell even a whiff of secondhand smoke can be very compelling.

doorman, followed by gym followed by pool

I suspect I am not alone among those who answered the question in taking doorman and elevator as givens.

I did that too as you can’t really change that in existing coop easily.

Storage and gym

Doorman and elevator are more like building attributes, rather then amenities. Ie, coop, prewar, 10 floor, 60 unit, doorman, elevator. Etc.

As many state, I would also argue many would prefer lower building expenses and maintenance charges above all else. With that said

Critical - laundry room and storage. Most WD in units are looking, small and not venting. Ability to have a cage to store stuff is rare and underrated in my opinion

Most returnable value - hmm, hard to answer but I would guess community roofdeck, basic gym, other community outdoor space

Usually those types of amenities don't cripple the balance sheet. Good thread

Typo, most WD are limited I meant

Going by assumption that D/M and elevator are a given, I agree on laundry room. But honestly when I was looking, I don't remember seeing any full service buildings that did not have a laundry room.

Typically D/M buildings come with a laundry room but I think in new developments it may not be the case as every apartment has a washer dryer.

Doorman, package room, elevator, laundry room, and ON-SITE REPAIRMAN. The on-site repairman is very handy in my building. It is a 24 hour service (in case of emergencies). They charge for repairs not covered by the building. The fees are $35/hour and the cost of parts.

That's very reasonable.

Sounds like your “repairman “ has a very lucrative private gig - subsidized by his building job !

I am guessing repair man fees are remitted to the building. We have a shareholder who wants to institute this in our building and it seems like a good idea depending on cost. I’d love to hear anyone’s personal experience regarding an arrangement like this - particularly whether there is such a job/position in the collective bargaining agreement (i.e., how does this work with the union?) and the extent to which the handyman pays for himself? If handyman fees remitted to the building don’t cover the personnel cost, including benefits, shareholders might balk at the expense in our building, but it seems worth exploring.

If the handyman is limited to 40 hours a week with no overtime except in emergencies, I think most large-ish buildings could absorb the cost. It cuts down on outsourcing which is probably more $.

My wish list: fireplace and closet.

garage

spa