We have a room in one of the common areas that is about 150SF (15 FT by10 SF)  and I'm wondering what to do with it.

It used to be a second Laundry facility but there is no real need for that in this property so we want to convert it to something else.

Preferably, something that will generate income but if we can't find that then something that will increase the property attractiveness to prospects and/or increase retention of current residents. 

We've been going at it for weeks now so I figured reaching out to the wisdom of the crowd might help come up with ideas we didn't think of... 

How many units in the building? What facilities do you already have? Storage areas? Room for rent? Can you add it to a unit and get more rent?

Hey @Joseph Gozlan , have you considered a dog wash station?  

You already have plumbing so installing a drain in a tile shower base/floor type structure should be relatively simple.  You could use the rest of the space for pet type things (pet vending machine, etc...).  If interested I would go to some of the local dog groomers and higher end pet stores and see what types of "amenities" they have that you could implement.

Pets are an ever growing thought for residents these days so might be worth considering and be a great way to differentiate your property possibly.

Originally posted by @Colleen F. :
How many units in the building? What facilities do you already have? Storage areas? Room for rent? Can you add it to a unit and get more rent?

* Just over 100 units

* Current amenities: Laundry, Clubhouse, Fitness room, business center, pool 

* Can't turn it into a unit.

Originally posted by @Bruce Petersen :

Hey @Joseph Gozlan, have you considered a dog wash station?  

You already have plumbing so installing a drain in a tile shower base/floor type structure should be relatively simple.  You could use the rest of the space for pet type things (pet vending machine, etc...).  If interested I would go to some of the local dog groomers and higher end pet stores and see what types of "amenities" they have that you could implement.

Pets are an ever growing thought for residents these days so might be worth considering and be a great way to differentiate your property possibly.

Bruce,

That's actually our top option at the moment but I was hoping we might be able to find something that will increase NOI. If we can't find any better suggestion, that's what we'll do :-)

Joseph,

Pet wash can make money if you treat it like a car wash (coin operated), same with pet vending machines

Meeting room/cyber cafe/work stations that they must reserve for a fee

Extra storage for packages for tenants amazon packages with locked lockers(maybe a parcel company will pay you to put one in) I think Amazon.com does this, but only for their packages

Rent out to someone for Yoga classes

2 Tiered bike park/store system

Tutor area for kids afterschool

All of the above ideas depends on what type of tenants and community and area your property is located

@Joseph Gozlan Maybe shove a bunch of vending machines in there? They still require some degree of maintenance in terms of filling them up, collecting the quarters, etc. Personally, I’d think there’s some tenant that will pay another $50 a month for storage. Maybe a tenant that’s a contractor and has a bunch of tools that the spouse doesn’t want in the house and that they don’t want to keep in their truck.

Anyway, I’d probably use it as the place to put excess materials. Assuming you use the same tile, carpet, paint, etc. in all of the units you have to keep the excess stuff (that you will use at the next unit turnover) somewhere.

Originally posted by @Andrew Johnson :

Joseph Gozlan Maybe shove a bunch of vending machines in there? They still require some degree of maintenance in terms of filling them up, collecting the quarters, etc. Personally, I’d think there’s some tenant that will pay another $50 a month for storage. Maybe a tenant that’s a contractor and has a bunch of tools that the spouse doesn’t want in the house and that they don’t want to keep in their truck.

Anyway, I’d probably use it as the place to put excess materials. Assuming you use the same tile, carpet, paint, etc. in all of the units you have to keep the excess stuff (that you will use at the next unit turnover) somewhere.

Thanks Andrew. We have shops on the grounds where we store the excess materials so that's not a problem. We considered vending machines but my research shows they don't really worth the hustle. too much maint/breaks/weekly runs to load them up. 

Anyone has a different experience with the vending machines?

Originally posted by @Kim Meredith Hampton :

Joseph,

Pet wash can make money if you treat it like a car wash (coin operated), same with pet vending machines

Meeting room/cyber cafe/work stations that they must reserve for a fee

Extra storage for packages for tenants amazon packages with locked lockers(maybe a parcel company will pay you to put one in) I think Amazon.com does this, but only for their packages

Rent out to someone for Yoga classes

2 Tiered bike park/store system

Tutor area for kids afterschool

All of the above ideas depends on what type of tenants and community and area your property is located

Thanks Kim.

I like the meeting room idea. I really wanted to rent it our for a business (would be a great thing to have like a hair/nail salon in there) but the zoning rules do not allow us to do that :-(

Why not contract the space out to a vending machine company and ATM company? They'll at least pay rent for the space as well as deal with stocking and maintenance.

@Joseph Gozlan the vending machine idea can be almost 100% hands free.  Instead of purchasing and stocking the units, do as @James Canoy suggested.  There are many companies out there that will put a machine into your facility and pay you a percentage of sales.  Think large corporation break rooms...  If you have 100 units and the space is in a high traffic area, I am sure you can attract some vending machine vendors.  Normally they will park a few units to test the site.  They will want a certain amount of sales per month to justify stationing a unit or two.

@Joseph Gozlan ,

I think it depends on what you are going for... if you need something to differentiate yourself,  advertising a dog bathing area will easily win pet lover over!   Especially in complexes, a lot of people have small dogs, and it normally costs $20-$40 per visit, so that'd be seen as a huge plus for a dog lover!    There is liability, someone slipping, ya know.. stuff happens.

I'd either do that, or the ATM or snack machines... or better yet-- why not both?!

How about some pinball machines?  @Joseph Gozlan

Originally posted by @Gary Olsen :

How about some pinball machines?  @Joseph Gozlan

We were thinking about a mini arcade as well. anyone has any experience with that? Is it something I can contract out?