Philip Koether, an architect for 30 years, told me that before the recession rental properties were different than condominiums, that they were ”quite a bit lesser.” But post-recession, Koether who designed the common space at the new Batchyard apartments in Everett, noted  “it’s a complete blur,” and there’s little distinction between the two.

I was told that it has gotten to the point that in New York City it can be very hard to tell the difference between new condo buildings and new apartments. Ditto, Boston.  In fact, Boston has such great new apartment buildings, in such enviable locations, with so many amazing amenities, in many instances buying instead of renting would mean taking a step down in terms of the quality of one’s residential life.

These new Hub apartments with their high end appliances and in-unit laundry, they’re not your dad’s apartment. Their better finishes aren’t the only difference. When your dad rented, he didn’t have free wifi in the common areas, ultra-cool chill spaces or the local craft brewery serving beers at the building’s St. Patrick’s Day Party.  And the building he rented in when he was fresh out of college, for sure, didn’t have indoor pet relief options and bike repair areas like the ones I found  in so many of the new Hub buildings that I have toured.

Some of today’s new apartments are so different than what the previous generation thought of apartments, they might have to start coming with their own warning label. I showed a brand-new building to a 50-year old executive and she hated it with a capital H.  What drew her ire? Maybe she wasn’t used to walking through bathrooms and closets to get to bedrooms. Or, maybe it was that some of the units had showers outside the bathroom. Or it could have been a host of other things, like seeing her first gear wall or chalkboard wall. But, of course, the real reason–that was unsaid but not unknown during the showing–was simply that the developer designed the building for a different, younger demographic.

Segmenting the market may be long established in some industries, but is newer to apartments. A few years back, Avalon Bay Communities determined that just one product offering wasn’t enough to satisfy all consumers, so they segmented the market and embarked on a three-brand strategy. Each brand appealed to the needs and wants of a different demographic.  AvalonBay’s Ava is a brand dedicated to a new generation and my 50-year-old executive isn’t part of today’s new generation. So, the Ava apartment  I showed her at Assembly Row was not a fit. And she wasn’t a good match for Avalon Eaves either, a brand whose buildings can be older and in less flashy suburbs, like out in Burlington and Quincy. She was, however, a great match for AvalonBay’s flagship brand, a brand that features upscale living and high-end amenities in first-class suburbs, so she rented in Avalon Chestnut Hill.

Three Distinct Themes At Ink Block
The new National Development property in Boston’s South End, The Ink Block, is another apartment development that uses differences in design to appeal to different types of renters and personalities. In the three-building complex, each building’s layouts, materials, colors and finishes are so different from one another that  the Ink Block’s advertising asks in bold, “Which Ink Pad Fits You Best?” So, if you’re a match for 2 Ink, you’re probably not going to connect with 3 Ink.

Elizabeth Lowry of Elkus Manfredi Architects, who was involved in the design of the Ink Block, told me that today’s apartment design is following the hospitality market, which in the past valued consistency. In days gone by, hotel owners and management companies believed that customers chose the brand and consequently the buildings to have the same look and feel whether they were in Boston or Houston. Today, however, guests and tenants want authenticity. They want to feel the neighborhood, drink the local beer and see the local art. Lowry, whose firm always strives to find what is unique about a project or site and emphasize that trait in the design, said today’s apartment renters  “want context to their experience.”

Another feature that separates today’s buildings from yesterdays are monthly special events, which could include tastings, lectures and presentations, bonding residents with their neighbors and creating a sense of community within the complex.

So, Boston isn’t just building new apartments. In many cases, it’s building a new type of apartment, and a new way of living. 

David Bates is a broker with William Raveis Real Estate and author of The Bates Real Estate Blog, www.BatesRealEstateReport.com, and a recently published e-book, “Context: Nine Key Condo Markets, 2.0.”