Get Into Shape: How Multifamily Fitness Facilities Attract and Retain Renters
Provided by Johnson Commercial Fitness
Set Your Property Apart!
In today’s very competitive rental industry, a well-designed, modern, and fully equipped fitness center is a necessity for apartment communities to attract new members. Properly built, they also allow you to attract a higher quality tenant and increase what you can ask for rent.
A Rentcafe.com survey of 3,000 renters found that 47% were interested in on-site fitness centers. Moreover, the survey also found that 28% of renters would not consider an apartment with no fitness center on the premises. A high-quality fitness center will no doubt bring value to your rentals and allow you to seek higher rents because of it according to the article, “Fitness Center for Your Rental Property: Worth the Investment?” by author Barbara Bellesi-Zito.
The Design is Essential
Property owners may build custom packages to meet the specific needs, floor plan, and budget of their community. With over 40 product lines, Johnson Commercial Fitness offers you product selection and custom equipment packages, including options in cardio, strength, on-demand coaching, functional fitness, yoga, massage, billiards, flooring and more. Gone are the days of checking a “fitness center box” with some treadmills, bikes, dumbbells, and multi-gym. Prospective tenants are looking for well-rounded fitness spaces that allow them to train the way they can at their gym.
When your renters walk into the fitness center at your property, they shouldn’t be thinking of all the things that are missing, they should be amazed at the quality and completion of equipment offerings available to them within the community fitness spaces. With gym memberships today costing well over $100 in most cases, this becomes another way to show added value of joining an apartment community. If you offer a complete fitness solution, your renters can drop those memberships and save $100’s per month by using the well-rounded fitness center you provide onsite. The convenience of having the fitness center right there onsite eliminates the need for daily travel. Time savings, cost savings, and convenience quickly makes your fitness center a valuable leasing advantage to attract prospective residents who will gladly pay premium rents.
Creating a Community Culture
Creating a sense of community is vital to creating stable long-term occupancy. When community members engage with one another and form relationships they are much more likely to re-up their lease and stay within the community. This helps stabilize the occupancy rates, reduce the cost of recruiting new community members, and builds a strong local connection among tenants. A well designed and complete fitness center is a critical gather place for community members. The fitness center can foster engagement and interaction between your apartment community residents. Features like group training, functional fitness, and on-demand coaching can bring community members together to workout. Digital products can further foster connection between your residents even outside the fitness center. Building this sense of community is critical to ensuring renters stay in place long term because they are with people they’ve built relationships with.
Commenting on a 2018 StatisFact study, one participant noted: “I have always been in the camp that believed a ‘sense of community’ was a top factor in a resident’s decision to stay in their community, and sure enough, it was the 2nd highest rated factor. And when we quizzed multifamily professionals, they almost had it pegged perfectly, listing it as the top factor in resident retention. But what really blew me away was the clear theme shown at the top of the list—four out of the top six factors impacting the renewal decision all had to do with a resident’s connection with the community and neighbors!”
By building a true apartment community for your residents, you are creating a warm and friendly place to live that they won’t want to leave.
Johnson Commercial Fitness is the largest specialty fitness supplier in the nation and our design experts can help you build fitness space so when prospective renters tour at your property it is their last when searching for a new place to call home. For more information, go to https://www.johnsonfitness.com/commercial.