Vantage Med Center and One Lakes Edge smart appliances and package drop off

Tasked with identifying amenities that could differentiate apartment buildings in this age, a group of graduate students from the University of Houston’s Stanford Alexander Center for Excellence in Real Estate investigated emerging examples and drew up a list of best practices.

Workout rooms and swimming pools don’t drive as much renter excitement anymore. So what’s next? According to the students: fingerprint-scan door locks, dedicated facilities for package delivery, building-specific smartphone applications, internet-connected appliances, transportation services and facilities for pets.

“These are the amenities we believe have staying power,” said Rico Buot, a graduate business student in real estate at UH who presented alongside peers Brooke Eben and Junious Williams.

Online commerce á la Amazon has diverted shopping traffic from malls to the mail, and the students found that apartment owners have seen costs rise for handling packages. They foresaw buildings with storage rooms or even personal lockers for package deliveries, and proposed that premium delivery service could be offered as an add-on to rent.

That service could be boosted with fingerprint-scanning locks that allow tenants to grant temporary clearance to a particular entrant, like a delivery person. It would also enable key-free entry.

Such locks have already begun to appear in apartment buildings, students said, as have so-called “smart home” appliances. Thermostats can learn the schedule of a renter’s climatic preferences. Internet-connected refrigerators can stream video of its contents to an iPhone so shoppers can double-check the contents while at the grocery store.

As more people opt for app-based grocery delivery services, or even app-based transportation like Uber, complexes may begin to program dedicated delivery lanes or exclusive entrances.

Localized online platforms like NextDoor have gained popularity in recent years, allowing neighbors to discuss and organize locally. As young renters in high-rise towers long for neighborly love, similar platforms could be rolled out for each specific buildings – smartphone apps that host community discussion inside the building.

Pet services will also emerge as a prominent amenity to accommodate the nation’s multibillion-dollar pet industry, the students forecast. That means dog parks, wash stations and dog-walking services.

As younger generations seek walkable living communities and reduce their reliance on cars, the students suggested apartment complexes offer their own shuttle services to the city’s nearby hot spots for work and play.

Some of those amenities have appeared at projects throughout the country, but most are yet to show up in Houston.

“This is just the leading edge of what’s available,” said Keith Richards, executive director of the real estate program at the UH Bauer School of Business. “They’re just starting to make their way out into the market.”

The real estate program also recognized three local projects for innovation in residential high-rises.

The 22-story, 375-unit Vantage Med Center, set to open within weeks, won the Dinerstein Cos. recognition for technologically advanced amenities, which includes an automated package-sorting system.

One Lake Edge, an eight-story, 390-unit complex by Howard Hughes Corp. in The Woodlands, was lauded as “the epitome of live, work, play,” having developed a complete community with workplaces and grocery stores in close proximity to the apartments.

The Market Square Tower, a 41-story, 463-unit luxury complex by Woodbranch Management and best known for its glass-bottomed rooftop swimming pool, was commended for having “set a new bar for downtown living.”