Renters require different things now that roughly half of them work from home at least part of the time.
Years after the pandemic, millions of residents are still working out of their apartment homes.
To attract these renters—and keep them—property managers need to offer a new set of features. Communities need common areas where renters can plug in laptops and make a quiet phone call. They need floor plans that allow renters to create a separate space for work inside their apartments —even in smaller units. And they need to make absolutely sure that renters can get reliable internet service and cellular phone service in their homes and the common areas of the property.
“What we thought would be a temporary adjustment has become a long-term trend,” says Korene Hussey, Managing Director of Real Estate for Greystar.
Major employers keep planning to bring workers back to the office, and yet for the last few years, roughly the same number of workers have continued to work out of their homes.
“I can’t speak to 10 years from now, but today, our communities serve as places to live, socialize and work,” says Lela Cirjakovic, Managing Director of Multifamily Property Management for JLL, working in the firm’s offices in Chicago.
WFH: Here to stay
There is still a lot of uncertainty about how these millions of people working from home will eventually affect other parts of the real estate business. Office building owners, for example, still don’t know how much space many companies will finally decide they need or how much they might be willing to pay for it.
But for managers of apartment communities, many of the most important questions posed by the work from home trend have already been answered during the past several years.
More than half (56%) of apartment renters said they worked from home in a recent resident survey conducted by Camden Property Trust, headquartered in Houston.
Of those remote workers, more than two-thirds (71%) said they work from home “several” days a week, if not every day. The number of people who work from home has barely budged in the years since COVID-19 vaccines became widely available.
“The expectation was a gradual return to office-centric work, but the persistence of remote work has defied that,” says Sharon Hatfield, Chief Operating Officer of Multifamily Asset Services for Cushman & Wakefield, working in the firm’s offices in McLean, Va.
Other measures of how many people are working from home also stabilized in recent years, including the Kastle Systems Back-to-Work Barometer, which is tabulated based on the number of people who enter office buildings where Kastle manages the security. Other data, such as the number of cell phone signals detected arriving in office districts during the workday, have also barely changed during the last two years, even though many employers tried hard to convince employees to return to the office.
About three-quarters (74%) of the renters surveyed by Camden expect to be working from home or going into the office about the same amount in 12 months as they are today.
“Contrary to our expectations, many employers adopted permanent or hybrid remote work models,” says Hussey. “That has sustained the high demand for co-working spaces and robust internet connectivity.”
Even before the pandemic, many potential renters refused to consider apartments if the cellular phone service in the apartments and common areas was spotty or the available internet service was slow. That’s even more true now that so many renters are working from home at least some of the time, according to numerous renter surveys.
“It is one of the first questions that prospective residents ask now,” says Cirjakovic. “Broadband, Wi-Fi and cellular service are some of the first things we really look at when we evaluate communities and take on the management of a new property.”
These potential renters don’t just want good cellular service inside their homes.
“Having that ability to talk on your phone anywhere—elevators, common spaces, apartments—is critical,” says Cirjakovic.
Common areas fill with workers
Renters working from home are changing the way common areas are used in many apartment communities. Before the pandemic, many common areas were empty most weekday mornings and afternoons.
“Now they’re used all day long,” says Cirjakovic. “It really requires a change in how you service your properties, adding frequent amenity area inspections throughout the day to your checklists.”
Common areas that were designed for leisure are now being repurposed by residents who need to get work done.
“The cafe was intended to be a lively gathering space by day, but laptops and headphones are ubiquitous,” says Louis J. Jerome, Principal with JEMB Realty Corporation, owner and operator of Herald Towers. “There’s a TV that we thought would be on throughout the day, but [residents] keep turning it off as they concentrate.”
Some common areas built solely for leisure may need some adjustment to function as workspaces.
“There are things that can be done in ways that are not very expensive. Sometimes it’s just staging a room differently,” says Cirjakovic. “You can arrange furniture and plants to create more intimate spaces, provide privacy and create a noise barrier. Activating the space, with minimal cost, can dramatically enhance the experience. And no matter where I am in the community, you better provide a place to plug in.”
Developers are also creating more common area spaces that are entirely dedicated to work.
“We went from downgrading the business center to expanding it,” says Myka Staryk Monson, Regional Vice President at ZRS Management, working in the firm’s offices in Boca Raton, Fla. The layout of the business center has also transformed. What used to be large, open areas now includes closed-off areas where people can conduct phone calls or video chats.
Greystar is building extensive co-working space into its new developments like Hoboken Point, a new community in Weehawken, N.J., that includes 5,200 square feet of private co-working space with panoramic views of the Hudson River. There are also phone booths for people who want to speak quietly on the phone but don’t need a full conference room.
“Properties with versatile common areas that can serve as additional workspaces now have a competitive advantage,” says Hussey.
“We see more designated co-working or work from home spaces in these developments, we also find the other amenity spaces need flexibility to provide for this function at any time as well,” says Jeffrey Ellerbrock, Senior Director at MdeAS Architects, based in New York City.
Renters want floor plans they can work with
Inside the apartments, renters who work from home want different floor plans to help them separate work from the rest of their lives.
“With the increase in remote work, there’s a noticeable preference for floor plans that accommodate dedicated office spaces,” says Hatfield. “Apartments with an extra room or adaptable spaces are more in demand than traditional layouts.”
Features like a built-in desk are suddenly desirable, says Hatfield. “Five years ago, our directive to developers would have been to eliminate built-in desk space,” she says. “It has been eye-opening to see such a shift.”
Property managers can see the change in the average occupancy rates for different floor plans.
“Floor plans with dens or studies move faster than the standard bed/bath types,” says Travis Oden, Senior Vice President of Operations for Camden.
The median number of days these apartments remain vacant is shorter, and their average occupancy rate is higher, according to Camden’s data from 2018 to 2024 from its own portfolio of more than 58,000 apartment homes across the U.S.
“We now promote floor plans with flex space or built-in desks on our website and showcase models and photography showing how best to use space to allow for WFH (work from home) success within the apartment,” says Oden.
At the same time, smaller studio apartments are still popular. Many renters are still smarting from the rapid rent increases they agreed to in 2022.
“Because rental prices are up, some people are choosing to rent less space,” says Monson. “People are asking if they really need a guest bedroom.”
However, studio apartments need the right floor plan to succeed.
“It needs some dedicated space or a desk where people can work,” says Cirjakovic. “The studio floor plan has to be laid out in a way that allows people to live the way they want to live.”
Renters who work from home are also more interested than ever in the walls that separate them from their neighbors. They require adequate soundproofing.
“Residents working from home are more sensitive to noise, says Hussey. “That results in more frequent requests for soundproofing.”
Operating buildings is totally different
Now that a significant number of people are home during the day, operating an apartment building presents a new set of challenges, affecting everything from the availability of parking spaces to how much electricity is used at the property.
“Continuous occupancy has put different wear and tear on our properties, notably in plumbing and electrical systems,” says Hatfield.
This change has led to higher operational expenses, including costs for electricity, water, refreshments—even premium coffee machines, says Hussey.
The trash room overflows
Property managers have also had to rethink how they handle trash and recycling. The trash rooms at many properties were overwhelmed when residents had to shelter in place during the peak years of the pandemic. The amount of refuse managers have to deal with has still not gotten back to normal. Residents are still spending significantly more time in their apartments than they used to. And even if they aren’t cooking from home as much as during the pandemic, the number of packages they receive from online vendors has only increased.
“If you came into a building’s recycling area over a weekend you would be shocked at the amount of boxes,” says Cirjakovic.
Other apartment companies have made commitments to operate more sustainably, by recycling more of the waste produced at their properties.
“While the surge has somewhat stabilized, the volume remains higher than pre-pandemic levels. This has led us to reevaluate our waste management contracts and enhance recycling facilities to handle the increased load more efficiently,” says Hatfield.
Renters consider living in different places
As more people work from home more often, many are willing to live further away from job centers.
“Our clients are considering developments in areas previously deemed too remote,” says Hatfield. “Previously, proximity to job centers was a paramount concern; now, scenic and quieter neighborhoods farther from traditional business districts are gaining popularity.”
Workers who only come into the office two to three days a week might consider renting an apartment one or two hours away. The commute will be less painful because they don’t have to do it five days a week.
For example, apartment developers are creating new apartment properties in the smaller, urban communities outside of New York City.
“These communities offer more space and amenities for the same cost,” says Ellerbrock. “And renters have a manageable commute to the city when they have to be in the office.”
Hussey says, “Residents now prioritize locations with robust internet infrastructure, access to green spaces, and local amenities such as coffee shops and co-working spaces. Suburban and rural areas have seen increased demand.”
Demand is also still high for apartments in urban centers, however.
“After COVID we noticed a lot of people moving from the boroughs to Manhattan,” says Jerome, also developer of Herald Towers, a 690-unit rental building in the heart of Manhattan’s Herald Square neighborhood.
“They still want to live where they can easily get to other places for in-person meetings as needed and where social, cultural and entertainment centers are close by,” says Jerome.
Bendix Anderson is a freelance writer.