Poll: Most Overrated Apartment Amenity?

• September 5, 2012
• 7 Comments

by UrbanTurf Staff

New apartment projects in the DC area offer seemingly every amenity under the sun, from rooftop pools to open-air dog runs. While many of the services and amenities offered by these buildings are likely coveted by residents, we imagine that some are rarely, if ever, used.

In this week’s poll, UrbanTurf asks which of these amenities or services readers think are the most overrated.

This article originally published at http://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/poll_most_overrated_apartment_amenity/5983

7 Comments

1. Mel said at 9:10 pm on Wednesday September 5, 2012:
   The sad part is all the properties under construction will contain most,if not all these amenities and will charge sky-high rents because of the "luxury" offered.

1. John said at 10:43 pm on Wednesday September 5, 2012:
   My condo building has all those amenities with the exception of Business Center. None of it is over-rated. As a matter of fact, this poll is ridiculous. Do you have any idea the convenience of having your own under ground parking garage? or dropping your dry cleaning at the front desk or the benefit of having 24/7 concierge service? You won't appreciate it till you have it. For some reason, if you can't afford to live in one of those buildings; you might feel resentful. By the way, there are so many new buildings without any of those amenities.

1. ShawnDC said at 2:42 am on Thursday September 6, 2012:
   John - have you benn on 14th St lately? Almost every building under construction has most of these useless 'amenities'. Why would I pay more for rent for a dry cleaner downstairs when I can go to Georgetown Valet a block away and get better and cheaper rates? Having a parking garage is not a luxury in DC, its a necessesity. I'd rather be in a row house, at least those buildings are unique and have history directly tied to the city. These new apartment buildings are boring, generic and not very unique to DC. You could up root these buildings and they would fit just fine in Arlington. Not worth it at all.

1. AlsoLooking said at 2:52 am on Thursday September 6, 2012:
   the reality is that they can get more rent for the amenities, and they don't cost THAT much more to provide, so the economics of providing them makes sense. FOr low amenity buildings, you can either look at smaller buildings, or at older buildings. Row houses are nice, but there are only so many of them, so depending on what neighborhood you are willing to liAve in, they can be very pricey. As for rowhouses, if you think they are unique to DC, you should spend more time visiting other east coast cities.

1. Bruce said at 3:14 pm on Thursday September 6, 2012:
   Typo above, should be: Anyone have any idea why many new building do not have balconies?

1. Bruce said at 3:12 pm on Thursday September 6, 2012:
   I think the most important amenity is to have a private balcony. I am amazed that so few of the new building being built have these. I am selling my townhouse and looking for a condo and that is about the only must have for me. Anyone have any idea why many building do have these?

1. Rob said at 2:09 pm on Thursday September 6, 2012:
   Why do apartments have business centers?? I think most of us in the DC Metro area (that will pay DC Metro apartment prices) have computers and internet access.