Apartment Complex Offers On-Demand Mobility As Amenity
Most of us have gone through the apartment hunting process, whether we’ve liked it or not. From 24-hour gyms and dog parks to dry cleaning services and on-site movie theaters — apartment complexes have really stepped up their amenities game. You name it and there’s probably a complex that offers the luxury. But have you ever heard of a complex offering on-demand cars? Probably not. Surprise, one exists.
Yes, you heard that right. An apartment complex in lower-Manhattan, Solaire, now offers an on-demand fleet of vehicles solely available for their residents. Heading to Montauk for the weekend? Take your pick from the BMW fleet, including four i3’s, the luxurious electric vehicle. Solaire’s on-demand vehicles attracts millennials who would prefer to not own a car in the city and would rather purchase on-demand mobility. Think about it: it’s the perfect amenity, especially for the New Yorker. When most urban dwellers prefer to utilize bike sharing, public transportation, taxis, and on-demand mobility services — offering on-demand vehicles is an ideal feature.
“When someone comes to look at a unit, [the landlord] can say we’ve got a pool, gym, a cleaner and we’ve got a car,” said Adam Lubinsky, Managing Principal of design firm WXY. “It’s the last possible, amazing amenity they can offer.” The design firm has played an integral part in the Solaire project and to no surprise, the complex is serving as a model to others. For one, parking spots are no longer necessary, which is ideal for developers, particularly in urban areas. In NYC, for example, policy makers are already reducing parking requirements — in most of Brooklyn and Queens, and below 96th street in Manhattan, “developers are not mandated to offer parking”. In a world that is steering away from parking, will parking exist in the next 10 years? Although we can’t predict the future — parking might not always be necessary.
So then what’s next for on-demand mobility?
Well, it’s not clear — with autonomous cars and on-demand mobility on the rise and parking decreasing — it’s clear that there’s still a need for transportation, however, owning a car might eventually be unnecessary. Can you imagine a world where instead of making your monthly car payment, you can just reserve an electric BMW for your weekend trip? What’s even better is that for Solaire, the service is on the house. Talk about a great deal, especially for those who live in urban areas and don’t usually use their car on a regular basis.
“It is hard to tell what the future holds, but as Roy Amara stated, ‘we tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run’. We have seen the electric car, the connected car and the autonomous car all developed in the last two decades, but it is estimated that by 2021, only 5% of total cars on the road will be autonomous,” said Alexandra Wells, Senior Sales Associate at Passport. “That being said, while the future is certainly headed in the direction of driverless cars, we are still quite a while away from this being the norm. Cost is a huge factor here, along with certain artificial-intelligence challenges.”
There’s no clear idea of where exactly we’ll be in the next 10 years or even 3, but for Solaire, on-demand Beamers will get you where you’re going on the house.