Clean Air: The Next Luxury Apartment Perk – The Wall Street Journal

When buyers of real-estate developer John Roes seven condos walk into their new Manhattan homes sometime after May next year, Mr. Roe wants them to breathe deep and feel good about it. Thats because he has spared no expense on air quality.

The boutique building, called Charlotte of the Upper West Side, is being constructed with an airtight external shell. Fresh air, tempered, filtered and then treated with ultraviolet light, will be constantly pumped into each room, while the same amount of used air is extracted. If a resident is worriedsay they muttered God bless you to a sniffly dinner guest a worrisome number of times last nightthey can boost the air exchange in their unit by 120%. Buyers of Mr. Roes properties will be well aware of how special their air is: Marketing materials, which typically might describe the amenities and luxe touches, include elaborate diagrams and animations describing how the air system works.

The cost of all this magnificent air? The cheapest unit will list at $11 million, while penthouses will hit $18 million, Mr. Roe says. Those price tags are largely due to the location, size and luxury finishes of the units, but the air system wasnt cheap, either, Mr. Roe says. Still, like everything else in real estate that was once the preserve of the elitethink roof decks, gyms, stainless steelthese technologies were already on a path of increased adoption and lower cost. Covid-19 has poured accelerant on the trend.

Executives at some of the countrys largest developers say they believe that by 2030 such systems will be commonplace in all residential development. Buildings with a high degree of mechanical ventilation and energy efficiency will be routine. Indoor sensors will identify when air quality has dropped and automatically increase ventilation. Systems will aim to mitigate outdoor air problems, such as general pollution or smoke from wildfires, as well as indoor threats, such as a sick resident, a burned pot roast or overenthusiastic spraying of lemon polish. Homes will feature dynamic air systems with a crisis mode that can upgrade filtration and run a disinfection protocol. Once the threat has been neutralized, systems will return to status quo to save energy.

At the same time, questions remain about what technology is most effective and worth the cost in both dollars and energy use. Will home buyers care about air quality when Covid-19 is no longer affecting daily life?

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Clean Air: The Next Luxury Apartment Perk - The Wall Street Journal