Soft Amenities Combat High Gas Prices

It seems these days that no matter where you turn, you can’t escape the news of high gas prices. And let’s face it, for good reason. Gas prices are high and they don’t appear to be receding anytime in the near future. Furthermore, the high price of gas is affecting so many other facets of our daily lives, from the price of food to the amount of police that patrol our streets.

With the average commute in the United States topping 39 minutes, combined with the high price of gas, some analyst are predicting the death of the suburbs. For a housing industry still recovering from the sub-prime lending crisis, this will surely be the old nail in the coffin right?

Well…not necessarily.

It boils down to simple economics and the theory of Opportunity Cost. By definition, Opportunity Cost is the cost of passing up another potential choice in making a decision.

In other words, builders and developers need to refocus and repackage the very attributes that have made suburbia so successful. Recent studies still indicate that three of the four most important factors in choosing where to live are: safe neighborhood, close to good schools and close to parks, water or other recreation.

The point is, now more than ever builders of masterplan communities need to showcase lifestyle. And lifestyle doesn’t always require more space and a huge budget to achieve - lifestyle is a soft amenity! It’s not enough just to build the clubhouse, but you need to establish a social infrastructure – book clubs, Wall Street clubs, wine tastings, cooking classes, the programming options are unlimited. The goal here is create a sense of place and up the energy level of the community. Your residents will be paying more to commute to work, but on evenings and weekends, make it a place they don’t want to leave. This will be noticeable to potential buyers and help them in their decision process.

You can also become innovative and tackle gas prices head-on by developing Rideshare, Park & Ride and Vanpool options for commuters. Use these commuting options to help sell your project to the local government. Build a state-of-the-art telecommuting facility in your clubhouse with video conferencing.

These are just a few examples of offsetting the cost of higher gas prices in your development. Remember, it’s all about Opportunity Cost. Tip the scale in your favor.