I just finished reading about an apartment building in Los Angeles that is currently retrofitting its amenity spaces to include, among other things, an appropriately spread out co-working space, two podcast rooms, and a TikTok studio. This latter amenity will be a roughly 100 square foot room with camera-ready lighting, tripods, and mirrors. It was described in the article as the perfect place for one or two people to create things and entertain themselves.
The gist of the article is that home offices are the new must-have amenity and that developers have started to rethink apartment amenities in light of this. But I also take this to be a sign of the times. We are living in a world of content creation. Whether you’re a so-called influencer or not, TikTok has, for a lot of young people, replaced many other forms of entertainment and everybody, at this point, probably needs their own podcast.
It is also true that there’s an “amenities arm race” going on within the apartment sector. This is nothing new and doesn’t have much, if anything, to do with this pandemic. Amenities have been how you differentiate your offering. And when you’re constantly selling (i.e. leasing all the time), they do become important. So here’s to podcast rooms and TikTok studios. If you had your pick, what kind of amenities would you like to see in your building?
BRANDON DONNELLY 
A designated TikTok room doesn’t seem like it would produce better TikToks. Part of the appeal was always seeing people in their natural habitat.
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A protected grass field fully visible to most units (inner courtyard maybe?) with a large abstract modern sculpture designed to be played on/climbed. But not a playground. So kids can be kids while parents can keep an eye on them while doing dishes or cooking dinner in their unit. I’ve never seen an apartment with this scenario in mind. But one of the biggest reasons families want their own backyard is so they don’t have to stop everything they need to do to accompany their kids outside.
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At grade bicycle parking with space for repairs/maintenance which includes a work area with anchored bike repair stands, a lockup area for users’ tools(1/2 high lockers for example – enough room for a small tool bax and work clothes) and a washing up area to clean parts tools and hands. This bicycle parking/ maintenance area (Bicycle Maintenance Studio?) should be seen as a branding opportunity – it says to buyers, ‘this is a building designed with the emerging complete streets network of safe cycling streets in mind’.
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