
One thing the pandemic taught us (as if we needed the lesson): People need community. They want to meet their neighbors, and they want to spend time with them.
Developers and managers know they need to provide community-building amenities if they want to attract renters by choice. Those who have been successful are designing common spaces mindfully, listening to their residents so they can offer the kinds of amenities the residents are craving, and then actively programming those amenities through an involved and energetic on-site team.
Local Flavor
“We’ve always focused on community-building amenities and events programming,” says Elizabeth Meyers, director of client services at Denver-based Kairoi Residential. In recent years, she’s noticed a burgeoning demand for community-building amenities. “As we see an increase just in the cost of renting, there’s an increased expectation in what comes along with that price. It used to be sufficient to have a beautiful building and hope that people use it. Now we find that in order to stay competitive, we have to program resident events and amenity spaces.” In other words, she adds, “the sense of neighborhood and camaraderie in the residence experience in general has really had to be kicked up a notch.”
Kairoi strives to make this experience “hyperlocal,” Meyers says. She notes, for instance, that Kairoi’s Denver communities serve only locally produced beer and wine. The company also looks for ways to support very local businesses. One of its Denver residents, for example, owns a highly regarded bakery. So for the community’s breakfast-on-the-go program, “we have him bring in warm croissants,” Meyers says. “We also partner with a local farmers market so that residents have a wide array of locally produced items to choose from.”
Other examples of the programming Kairoi provides in its communities’ amenity spaces are live art auctions that raise money for local charities and a summer music series featuring local musicians at rooftop pool areas. “We try to program our amenity spaces so that people want to come and meet their neighbors,” Meyers says. “The end result is that they feel really connected to the building.”
Living and Working
Sergio Chidichimo, senior vice president of operations for Coppell, Texas–based Birchstone Residential, notes that demand for community-centered amenities accelerated “about six months after the pandemic,” when people found themselves having to work from home.
In response, Birchstone, which manages communities and value-add renovation projects for New York–based multifamily investment firm Ashcroft Capital, has been creating spaces that have the kind of work/office amenities found in co-working facilities. Residents in these communities can use these spaces to “conduct conference calls and meetings,” Chidichimo says, as well as to hold meetings.
When it comes to Birchstone’s amenity spaces, it’s not all work and no play. At the Halston on Frankford development in North Dallas, Texas, for instance, Birchstone recently converted the entire clubhouse area into a large fitness center that connects to the pool and an up-to-date sauna. There’s also a kitchen area that opens onto the pool, which Halston on Frankford residents can use to hold parties. Birchstone now plans to add a juice bar that’s accessible 24/7.

Other amenities that Birchstone will be incorporating into its renovation projects include gardens where residents can plant flowers and vegetables. “This seems to be super popular right now,” Chidichimo says. “But it has to be managed. If not, it becomes a mess.” Other community-building ideas Birchstone plans to pursue in its buildings include bringing in food trucks and live shows.
Personalize and Customize
“In general, there are two things we look at when we engage our residents: personalization and customization,” says Karl Smith, director of resident experience for Cortland. The Atlanta-based developer and management firm uses surveys to ascertain what each building’s residents are looking for. “It’s not like “Field of Dreams”: ‘If you build it, they will come,’” he says. “We ‘activate’ the amenity space.”
Case in point: The Cortland Biltmore community in Phoenix has a full-service bar exclusively for its residents, “something that resonates with a younger demographic,” Smith says. “They’re interested in participating in activities that happen on site that are similar to what they’d find in a social atmosphere.”

This allows residents the opportunity to meet each other in a casual way. And given that demographic’s familiarity with and use of apps like DoorDash, the Cortland Biltmore has added an online delivery service that can bring orders or beer and wine poolside.
Like many multifamily properties, Cortland at the Village, a 1,700-unit community in Smyrna, Georgia, has a fitness center (3,000 square feet, in this case). But there’s also a value-added component: what Cortland calls its Elevate program, which comprises nearly 25 monthly fitness classes, including yoga and kickboxing. The Cortland properties that offer Elevate also allow these communities to add classes that those particular residents want, whether that’s water aerobics, youth swim classes, or chair yoga.
During the pandemic period, Smith notes, “we noticed that there was a gap in our offerings: a lack of self-service options.” Cortland has added resident portals, both online and mobile, that “make it easier to engage with the on-site team as well as to reserve use of the amenities,” he says.
In other words, developers like Cortland aren’t just building amenity spaces. They’re staying involved with their renter-by-choice residents to evolve offerings—and create an ongoing sense of real community.