Residents of The Viridian are staying an average of three years, in part thanks to the building’s thoughtfully assembled amenity package. Image courtesy of The Abbey Group

Industry observers have described an “amenities war” among multifamily properties in cities like Boston, New York City and San Francisco. Properties are adding everything from pools to pet spas to golf simulators, but how often are these amenities actually used? 

When we were developing amenities for The Viridian, a residential tower at 1282 Boylston St. in Boston’s Fenway neighborhood, we recognized that the neighborhood itself is the first and foremost amenity for our residents. With Red Sox games, concerts, parks, running trails, award-winning restaurants and museums just steps away, we wanted to focus on quality over quantity when it came to our amenities, offering a curated selection specifically with our residents in mind, and we have seen this strategy pay off. 

For the most part, residents are professionals who choose The Viridian because of its location in a culturally rich neighborhood. Many of them also work in health care, with Longwood Medical Center just a mile away. We took this profile of focused professionals, eager to participate in everything the city has to offer, into consideration when we approached amenities as part of our overall strategy for the residence. 

Space Made for Community 

One of the central amenities we focused on was our Sky Deck – a partially outdoor, partially indoor roof deck with breathtaking views of Fenway Park and the city beyond.  

Not only was the Sky Deck reserved 49 out of 52 weekends last year, for everything from birthdays to “Friendsgivings,” but residents take advantage of the space for truly momentous life events.  

Numerous resident couples have held their weddings on the Sky Deck, and it has even been the setting for a number of proposals. Couples have also used the space to take their “first look” photos and family portraits on their wedding day. One resident even used the space as a set for his music video shoot, another wrote her entire Ph.D. dissertation here. Over the summer, residents flock to the Sky Deck to take in a Fenway Park baseball game or concert.  

Not only was the Sky Deck reserved 49 out of 52 weekends last year, for everything from birthdays to “Friendsgivings,” but residents take advantage of the space for truly momentous life events.

The Sky Deck has made the Viridian a deep, integral part of residents’ lives and relationships. 

Knowing that fitness is increasingly important to renters in the Boston area, and that many residents working in health care would have unusual schedules, it was important to us to offer not only a 24/7 concierge, but also a 24/7 fitness center, located on the first floor so as not to disturb sleeping residents. In addition, we worked with the extremely popular fitness studio CorePower Yoga to open a location right on the ground floor of the building, making attending classes extremely convenient for all of our residents.  

Transience Traded for Authenticity 

We also knew that residents at The Viridian would not want to live in a transient or bland space where they would just hang their hat for a year – these would be working professionals who, although not yet homeowners, wanted to live in a unique, authentic space for multiple years. 

Audrey Epstein Reny

To achieve that goal, we developed a curated art collection throughout the building, worked with a local bookstore to select books for the “Jade Room” and designed the building to look more like a boutique hotel than a typical big-box apartment, with low lighting, doorways designed to look like their own home entry, and a different color palette on every other floor. 

Together, these amenities come together to create a sense of home, authenticity and emotional meaning, and they are used on a daily basis, becoming an integral part of the lives of our residents. We are proud of the thought that went into their development and happy that our residents take full advantage of these amenities on a daily basis.  

On average residents are living at The Viridian for three years, and some even longer, which tells us they are enjoying their Fenway home and all that it offers. 

As other developers create their own amenities programs throughout the course of building a residential tower, especially in large metropolitan areas with a plethora of cultural opportunities, we advise considering the “quality over quantity” approach, and offering a curated set of amenities that best serve the residents that will live there. 

Audrey Epstein Reny is managing partner at The Abbey Group in Boston.