Play it Up Looks like the days of taking the kids to McDonald’s Playland are over. After all, who wants to leave home when the best play area is right in your own building? Developers are exerting a tremendous amount of energy to create playrooms with a wow factor. At 10 West End Avenue, a 173-unit condo under development in New York City, the developer partnered with the Children’s Museum of Manhattan to model its approximately 1,300-square-foot playroom after the museum’s latest exhibit called PlayWorks. Play stations include a “drivable” fire truck and MTA bus, a mini-deli for children to take orders, cook, and serve food, and a crawling challenge course for babies. How’s that for wow?
“In the old days, developers would find a room in the basement and fill it with plastic fruits and vegetables,” says Cohen of Apollo Real Estate Advisors, the building’s developer. “We wanted to do something that would have lasting value for the residents of the building.” If space permits, developers recommend adding an outdoor play area that connects to the playroom.
Partnerships with local organizations are quickly proving to be a smart way to create stand-out play areas. For its indoor playground at The Rushmore, Extell Development teamed up with Kidville, N.Y., an upscale full-service family center offering classes and more. Not only will the condo feature a Kidville-designed playground, but residents will get a free year’s membership to the club, plus one semester of complimentary classes. “Kidville is the hottest thing in the city,” says Tamar Rothenberg, Extell’s marketing director. “And because it’s so popular and everyone wants to be a member, the concept has gone over really well [with prospects].”
Keeping Busy Sure, play rooms are a great perks, but toys and games won’t keep kids entertained indefinitely. To keep the young residents busy and out of trouble, savvy communities offer a wide-range of activities. Solaria, a high-end condo being built in New York (prices start at $720,000), offers a rooftop observatory with a high-powered telescope, and a stargazing deck with a rotating celestial map and lounge chairs. Residents can participate in stargazing and other educational sessions offered through a partnership with the Amateur Astronomer’s Association of New York. Families will receive a one-year complimentary membership to the association as well as a one-year membership to the Museum of Natural History, home of the Rose Center Planetarium.
Developers don’t have to spend a ton of money to offer quality programming. Nearby schools can serve as a valuable resource. Court Street Lofts, which recently opened in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, sponsors events with a nearby elementary school. One popular activity: students (including residents) displayed their artwork in the building’s lobby and participated in a “milk and cookies” (think wine and cheese for the short set) art show, complete with valet stroller parking. The activity not only entertained the younger crowd, but it also served as a smart marketing tool. “Through the network with the school, we have been exposed to a lot of other families in the neighborhood,” says Cordeiro of Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, which markets this property.
Room to Grow Once couples have children, they often quickly outgrow their apartment or condo and hunt for a roomier, single-family home in the ‘burbs. Developers, determined to keep these residents, are now building larger-sized apartments with as many as five bedrooms. “We’re seeing far fewer projects [in New York City] than we used to with largely one-bedrooms and studios,” says Cohen. His project, 10 West End Avenue, offers mainly two- and three-bedroom units, with the option to create even more three-bedroom units to meet market demand (the one- and two-bedroom units can be easily combined, thanks to carefully-designed construction plans).
Making the most of the space is essential. An open floor plan allows parents to keep an eye on their children at all times and stay connected, says Judy Cockerton, founder and executive director of the Treehouse Foundation, a non-profit which helped build Treehouse at Easthampton Meadow, an intergenerational mixed-income rental community in Easthampton, Mass., for families adopting children from the public foster care system and for seniors. “When you stand in the kitchen in the property’s five-bedroom units, you can throw in a load of laundry, feed someone at the kitchen island, talk to kids who are in the living room and dining room, and you can even see into the downstairs bedroom.” Short on space? An open floor plan can help transform any size place into a family-friendly area—and make the space look and feel larger.
Families also appreciate a variety of floor plans to accommodate their different needs, adds Baquero. ELEMENT offers units with bedrooms next to each other (ideal for younger children), and others with bedrooms spread throughout the house to cater to families with older children.
Keeping Busy Want a sure-fire way to win over a parent? Help parents find a quality babysitter—and fast. Court Street Lofts offers an around-the-clock nanny concierge program with services provided through a partnership with New York-based Abigail Michaels Concierge. The service, which is free to residents, helps parents with everything from planning a birthday party and getting front row tickets to a theater production to arranging a last-minute babysitter. This service is custom-tailored to meet the needs of the urban moms, says Cordeiro.
Nanny services aren’t limited to the Big Apple. Trump Hollywood, a 40-story oceanfront condo under development in Hollywood Beach, Fla., is expected to feature an on-call nanny. After all, The Donald needs someone to help take care of baby Barron William Trump.