As if valet service, rooftop gardens and cabanas, gyms and yoga studios weren’t enough to lure people to new condominiums and rentals, some developers are adding an extra touch of security in the form of built-in safes.
Safes have long been fixtures in hotel rooms, but are now found in more residential buildings, including The Helena, a 600-unit rental development at 601 West 57th Street; Place 57, a 68-unit condominium at 207 East 57th Street; and The Glendale Project, a 68-unit condominium at 79-18 69th Place in Glendale, Queens.
Even in a booming housing market, amenities make a difference, say developers and leasing agents.
“I think that people expect a certain level of amenities in Manhattan and even in all five boroughs,” said Harold Jupiter, executive vice president of The Clarett Group, developer of Place 57 where the list of amenities includes high-end Viking appliances. “If you don’t have them you’re working at a disadvantage.”
He said Clarett plans to include the safes in its Chelsea House condominium at 130 West 19th Street, where construction began in June.
Kenny Godfrey, a partner with Trilogy Construction Services, which developed The Glendale Project, says the safes have made the units more attractive to some buyers. About half of the apartments, which include stainless steel appliances and granite countertops and range from $370,000 to $480,000 for two bedrooms and two baths, were sold by July, he said.
“For what it costs, the safe is an attractive amenity,” Godfrey said. “For people who are at the edge and may be considering another place — it pushes some of them over the line.”
Still, for some would-be buyers and renters, an in-apartment safe begs the question: If you need a safe, is the building all that secure?
“It’s not about security, because you’re living in a luxury high-rise with a 24-hour doorman and security cameras,” said Debra Derella-Dheren, leasing manager at The Helena. Studios there rent for $1,900 to $2,400 a month; one-bedrooms $2,650 to $3,600 a month; and two-bedrooms from $4,600 to $5,300 monthly. The safes appeal to people who work a lot of hours and may have a cleaning service come in when they aren’t at home, she said.
“It’s nice to put important things in the safe such as jewelry or important papers, and you don’t have to have a safe deposit box,” Derella-Dheren said.
Denver-based Safe Decisions L.P. got its start by installing safes in dorm rooms at colleges, including the University of Pennsylvania, Northeastern University, and Syracuse as well as in hospitals and independent living facilities and is now installing its safes in residential housing.
The company’s safes, which sell for $499 when sold individually, include 24-hour customer support and can be unlocked remotely if the user forgets his code. Building management typically only has to get involved during initial installation or when the occupants of a unit change.
The safes are usually bolted to the floor of a master bedroom closet on a 13-inch pedestal that allows storage space below the unit and doesn’t interfere with most hanging clothes.
There are a wide range of safes on the market that people can buy, from low-cost lightweight portable models that can be purchased at an office supply store to more expensive and heavier safes costing several hundred or even thousands of dollars that must be delivered because of their weight.
Jody Durst, co-president of the Durst Organization, said adding the Safe Decisions units appealed to him because of the convenience and peace of mind for tenants when they have nannies, maids or other service professionals in their homes, and said he sees potential for other uses.
“We may very well start offering this type of system in our commercial buildings as well as future residential projects,” Durst said. “It’s a well-designed product, especially based on how easy it is to use.”
Safe Decisions gets a lot of business in South Florida and in Las Vegas, said Safe Decisions COO Ben Francois.
“People are concerned about their things — some people stuff their jewelry in the sock drawer,” Francois said. “We’re helping people do something that they are already trying to do and we’re providing an easier way to do it.”