The DC Area's Newest Apartment Amenity: The Recording Studio

• August 16th 2019

by Nena Perry-Brown

The ever-expanding selection of amenities offered by new residential projects in the DC region now includes soundproof recording studios.

A new development in the works in Brentwood (map) called Artisan 4100 will have recording studios that residents can use. For Artisan 4100, the inclusion of a music studio amenity fell in line with the mission of the Gateway Arts District: to provide a place for the arts to continue to thrive in the community and along the Route 1 corridor between DC and Hyattsville.

"The artists banded together in the communities of Mount Rainier, Brentwood, North Brentwood and Hyattsville to use art to promote economic development and to use economic development to promote the arts," Peter Siegel, CEO of Landex Development, explained to UrbanTurf. His company also developed Studio 3807 on Rhode Island Avenue, and while that building included below market-rate artists' studios, Artisan 4100 will serve the music and audio communities. 

The 1,600-plus square-foot studio at Artisan 4100 is designed by Wenger Corporation and will have three soundproofed booths, as well as a practice stage. Just Rock Enterprises president Shelita White will operate the space; in addition to building residents, the public will also be able to rent the booths.

Users, whether bands or podcast hosts, would be responsible for bringing in their own recording equipment.

"Artists have particular needs for their craft," Siegel said. "We decided to go into the common denominator, which was a place to practice, and a place to practice music at whatever volume and whatever time of day or night." 

This isn't the first time recording studios have emerged as a residential building amenity: Alexandria's office/residential hybrid development e-lofts, which delivered in 2016, has two soundproof studios with TVs inside which can double as recording devices. However, the property manager told UrbanTurf that this year, the rooms have mostly been used as spillover conference space when the first-floor conference room amenities are occupied. The office-to-residential conversion at 1900 Half Street SW (map) in Buzzard Point once counted a recording studio among its amenities, but the development team recently opted against it.

Whether people end up using them to record their podcasts or to steal away for a private phone call, it will be interesting to see whether recording studios continue to gain popularity as a residential building amenity.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the-dc-areas-newest-apartment-amenity-the-recording-studio/15767.