Offer a Business Center

The number of residential properties offering some sort of business center has risen dramatically in the past several years. Whether tenants lack Internet access in their home or other family members never let them get near the computer, many are looking for a place to conduct occasional business away from their office or living room.

“Business centers are a great sales tool,” says Jeffrey Torkelson, a certified property manager and owner and principal of JST Property Services in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. “It’s like a pool, in that potential tenants say, ‘Wow! Great! I want to live here!’ but in my experience, 10 to 15 percent actually use it.”

But some managers say tenants specifically ask whether the property has a business center before they will consider it. “People may have Internet access at work, but not at home,” says John Gallagher, senior vice president of property management at Polinger Shannon & Luchs Co. in Chevy Chase, Md. “Many of our tenants are recent immigrants and they use it to communicate with family members back home.”

If you’re considering adding or updating a business center in your residential properties, here are some things to consider:

• Decide how high-tech you want to be. Managers say their properties, at a minimum, offer a photocopier, fax machine, high-speed Internet access and sometimes wireless (Wi-fi) connections. “Generally, you can get these things through your local cable company,” Gallagher says.
• Go beyond the basics. You may want to consider offering a meeting facility, a reading area, and gourmet coffee or juice bar. “We like to have a reading area, with some oversized chairs where people can wait for their turns on the computer,” Torkelson says.
• Select a location. Will the room be accessible with a residence key? Only available on a sign-up basis? “In some of our buildings, the room is available by a physical key or key card, and in others, only during certain hours of the day,” Torkelson says. “It depends on the demographics of the property and its physical constraints. The leasing office can’t give physical access all of the time.”
• Count the cost. Will there be a cost for residents to use the computers? Who provides the paper and pays for toner cartridges? Is someone on call to fix a computer when it breaks down? “One of the most common mistakes I see when setting up a business center is that management budgets only for the initial costs, and they don’t realize the upkeep expenses and the ongoing daily expenses, even if nothing breaks,” Torkelson says.
• Maintain the center. Once residents get used to having a center, they expect it to be in top-notch condition at all times. “It’s got to be maintained impeccably, and when things break, tenants want it fixed immediately,” Torkelson says. “You only have the opportunity to screw up when you put a center in.”

Gallagher says he knows the centers in his buildings are used almost continually. “Can I tell you that because of this we’ve raised rents or rented apartments?” he asks. “Not really. But I see people on them all day and all night.”