Innovative Ammenity Ideas for Developers

[quobobo]

jlousa and SFUVancouver, I'm a little skeptical about ceding control over my internet to my (probably non-technical) neighbours. Especially since Novus is pretty great and available in new buildings anyway.

Included internet service would be nice if it was simply a negotiated lower price for the building and you could opt out, but otherwise I'd pass.

[memememe76]

Well, our outdoor pool is used several months of the year (not a few weeks) and used extensively. The hot tub is year round. And our gym is well used. I would hate a coffeebar. And I live in Surrey. Why would a Vancouverite want a coffeebar when they leave their building and within a few steps a perfectly good coffeeshop exists?

And I would not want a 24-hour office space. I can see one resident who is setting up an office using that fax machine and the rest of the strata pays for it.

Although not a unique amenity, I love those theatre rooms (Polygon builds some really nice ones).

[SFUVancouver]

I walked by a condo here in Toronto the other night that had a pretty cool amenity on its ground floor; a half-court basketball hoop. There were floor to ceiling windows facing the street and the double-height space was adjacent to the weight room/gym. There were half a dozen guys playing a pretty intense game inside and I thought it was pretty neat. It has to be one of the cheapest amenities to add to a building and requires virtually no maintenance. Plus it strikes me as one of the better social amenities to let residents actually meet and get to know their neighbours.

[officedweller]

The Waterworks project has squash courts - probably one of the only projects that has them - and it's a low maintenance as you can get - a room with painted lines.

WRT outdoor pools - one of the reasons Whistler condo strata fees are high is due to the year round operation of outdoor hot tubs for apres-ski soaks.