Which condo amenities are worth paying for

In a condominium, every amenity is paid for by every owner through the monthly common charges, whether you use it or not. Each owner's share is set by the percentage interest attached to the unit in the condo's declaration, so a larger apartment pays a larger share of the gym, the pool, and the staff, even if its owners never set foot in them. That's the lens this guide uses. An amenity is worth paying for when you'd use it often enough, and when replacing it on your own would cost more than your share of running it.

By that measure, the amenities that earn their place are mostly unglamorous ones, and some of the most photographed spaces in a luxury building are the hardest to justify. The article on judging building amenities goes through each category's quality markers. This guide is about cost.

What drives the cost of an amenity

Three things decide what an amenity costs the building. The first is staff. Anything that needs a person on duty, such as a front desk, a lifeguard, a valet, or a children's room attendant, adds payroll, and payroll grows every year. The second is mechanical load. Pools, hot tubs, steam rooms, and saunas need heating, water treatment, humidity control, and specialist maintenance, and they tend to break in expensive ways. The third is replacement. Gym machines, lounge furniture, roof deck surfaces, and kitchen equipment in shared spaces all wear out on a cycle, and the building has to set money aside in its reserve fund to replace them.

An amenity that scores low on all three, like a bike room, costs little to keep. One that scores high on all three, like a staffed indoor pool, can be a noticeable part of the budget in a building of any size.

Usually worth it

Staffed front desk and package handling. In a city where most goods arrive by delivery, someone to receive packages, refrigerated deliveries, and dry cleaning is something residents use almost daily. It's also one of the costlier amenities, because it's mostly payroll, but it's the one whose absence you'd feel every day.

Storage and bike rooms. New York City apartments rarely have enough closet space, and a storage cage or bike rack costs the building very little once it's built. Ask whether storage is included or rented separately, and whether there's a waiting list.

A well-equipped gym, if you'd use it. A gym that replaces an outside membership pays for itself in practice, as long as the building budgets for equipment replacement. A cramped room with a treadmill and a rack of dumbbells is a different thing, and is worth little if you'd keep your outside membership anyway.

Shared outdoor space. A roof deck or terrace gives apartment dwellers room they can't otherwise get, and on the waterfront it often comes with the building's best view. The costs are real, since roof membranes, pavers, and furniture need replacing and wind is hard on all of them, but the space is used by a wide range of residents.

Laundry in the unit. This one isn't a shared amenity, but it's worth naming because it changes daily life more than most shared spaces do. If an apartment doesn't have it, check whether the building allows owners to add it.

Often hard to justify

Pools, hot tubs, and spas. These are the clearest case of high cost for limited use. They need heating, water treatment, humidity control, and in many cases staff, and they're expensive to repair or close and reopen. If you'd swim several times a week, a building pool can still be a good deal. If you'd use it a few times a summer, you're paying a large share of a costly room.

Specialty rooms. Screening rooms, golf simulators, demonstration kitchens, and wine rooms photograph well in a sales gallery. In practice they're booked occasionally, their equipment dates quickly, and replacing it comes from the same reserve fund as the roof.

Services that duplicate the city. Valet parking, in-house car service, and staffed children's playrooms can be worth it for the households that use them every day. For everyone else they're a cost without a return, since the neighborhood offers the same things on a pay-per-use basis.

How to tell what a building's amenities cost

You can't see an amenity's cost on a tour, but you can find most of it on paper. In a resale building, the current budget and the audited financial statements break out payroll, utilities, repairs, and contracts, and the board minutes show whether owners have argued about closing or cutting an amenity. In a new building, the offering plan's first-year budget shows the sponsor's projections, which haven't yet been tested by real use. The guide to new development and resale explains where each document comes from.

Ask too how many apartments share the amenities. A roof deck shared by 600 units is a different place from the same deck shared by 200, and a building with many amenities spread over few owners will carry a higher share per unit. Some buildings charge separate fees for the gym, storage, or parking on top of the common charges, so ask what's included.