The last two years have been one big party for Jane Griffith and Robert L. Powers.
They have had baptism parties for their grandchildren, a graduation party, a welcome home party, and a Valentine`s Day party. They have also had no need to worry about making room in the living room of their two-bedroom apartment for their friends to come and celebrate.
Instead, the couple, who live in the McClurg Court Apartments in downtown Chicago, host the gatherings in the party room of their building, where there is room for 50 guests to do a high-brow mingle at a cocktail buffet or to let down their hair in a shake-and-shimmy party.
Multifamily apartment buildings, like McClurg Court and Regents Park in Chicago, River Place in Naperville and Elmhurst Place, have party, hospitality or entertainment rooms for their residents. These same interior spaces in apartment communities outside the city are commonly called clubhouses.
Some apartment managers say these areas have undergone a change over the years from a seldom-used amenity to a necessity for tenants. In fact, for the resident who has the occasion to entertain more than a few people at a time, the party room or clubhouse has become an extension of their living space, much like the finished basement of a single-family home.
Kevin Kaplan says the party room is a necessity for him and the charity club he regularly hosts, ”With A Little Help For My Friends.”
Kaplan, who also lives in McClurg Court, has a 650-square-foot convertible studio. The building`s party room is 1,638 square feet.
”It`s a good size apartment but I don`t know if I want to try to fit 30 or 40 people in there unless I can get three or four in the closet, another five in the bedroom area, and the rest in the living room,” he says, laughing. ”It`s OK for a few people, but nothing big.”
He has lived in the building for only a year but already has held several meetings in the party room and plans to have more. He holds meetings at least every two months and has about 40 people in attendance.
”In the summer, our meetings spill outside onto the sundeck outside the party room and it`s a pleasant space to be in,” he says. ”We have a combination of the party room as a meeting place and the sundeck area to give us even more space. It`s much nicer than being crowded into my or someone else`s apartment.”
Apartment building managers say buildings that were built in the 1960s and 1970s are more likely than older buildings to have entertainment space set aside for residents.
”It`s become an integral part of apartment living,” says Julia Versau, marketing director at Regents Park, 5050 S. Lake Shore Dr.
”The party room here is constantly booked with things that are sponsored by the building and functions the residents are holding for themselves,”
Versau says.
The Regents Park party room has a full kitchen and bathroom and can accommodate 65 people. Reservations must be made in writing and residents are charged $75 to rent it.
Kimberly Kelly, assistant manager at River Place apartments in Naperville, says the clubhouse is used at least 80 percent of the year, by residents who host bridal and baby showers, wedding receptions, birthday parties, christenings, class reunions and other parties.
The building`s management holds a number of parties in the clubhouse to help residents get acquainted, Kelly said, and tenants also use it as a recreation room.
The 1,300-square-foot clubhouse can accommodate 100 people and residents can rent it for $75. It offers a picture-perfect view of a woodsy area near Naperville`s Riverwalk.
In the summer, it`s common for partygoers to be in the clubhouse and on the deck outside. While the clubhouse is often booked for picnic parties and wedding and baby showers in the summer, Kelly said, the fall and winter months are the busiest, when residents use it for holiday parties around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year`s.
”There are also people who use the clubhouse for family reunions,” says Kelly. ”It certainly provides our residents with the space they don`t have in their own apartments and it`s a nice place to entertain.”
One of the most recent parties to be held at the River Place clubhouse was a wedding reception, a barbecue and cookout.
While some residents and apartment managers believe party rooms or clubhouses are necessities, these entertainment spaces are still largely marketed as ”extras.”
The hospitality room at Elmhurst Place Apartments, which has a full kitchen and bathroom, is described by the management there as a ”thoughtful extra”-along with such other amenities as a car wash area and floor-to-ceiling height resident storage lockers.
But Elaine Popp, property manager at Elmhurst Place, says this is an
”extra” people ask for by name when shopping for an apartment.
”It`s right up there with their requests for having a washer and dryer, dishwasher and their questions about the security system,” she says. ”With competition the way it is in this business, you have to have a hospitality room.”
Popp says the party room is seen as a special asset by corporate clients who shop for apartments because they want the space to entertain and to hold meetings.
The Elmhurst Place hospitality room is more than 800 square feet and can accommodate between 60 and 70 people. Residents in the building are required to reserve the space in advance and to provide a $200 deposit, which is refunded if the hospitality room is cleaned and not damaged.
”There is no rental fee. People really do take care of it and make sure it`s in the same clean and orderly condition it was in before they used it,” Popp says. ”We`ve never had to keep anyone`s deposit.”
Popp says the hospitality room is in use by residents at least three to four times a week.
Popp says the room`s use is not limited to parties. People use the room to study, especially if they have a family and they want to find a quiet place to get down to business. In the hospitality room, they can be free of interruptions and the temptation to watch television or get something to eat. Popp says the room is also reserved as a place for play groups to meet.
”This means the children have more space to play and everyone is more at ease,” she says. ”It`s a practical way to use the space.”
Besides providing space for residents to study or be entertained, the clubhouse atmosphere helps to insulate other apartment residents from the noise associated with parties.
”Noise from loud parties is not something we worry about here,” says River Place`s Kelly. ”The residents who live here are not the type to have wild parties that go on and on into the night, but the clubhouse location is ideal. It`s not on top of anyone`s apartment. There is space around it.”
But those ”good-time” party noises are often at the root of why some landlords cringe at the thought of a party.
Dan Heyneman, court coordinator of the Center for Conflict Resolution, says loud music and residents known for hosting parties that last far into the night are among the chief complaints of neighbor against neighbor in apartment buildings.
”The loud music, noise, or fight that breaks out are sometimes a symptom of the party that takes place,” says Heyneman. ”If the party is somewhat removed from the rest of the people who live in the building, that can help everyone`s peace of mind.”
While there are no next-door neighbors to the party room at McClurg Court, there are apartments above the third-floor room.
Lois Hirschfield, director of leasing at McClurg Court, says loud noise complaints aren`t a real problem at the building, but says residents who have parties in the party room are asked to ”keep it down.”
”The apartments here are a good size, but they don`t really have enough space for you to have 40 or 50 over,” Hirschfield says. ”Eventually, the noise is going to bother someone and the space just isn`t there to accommodate so many people in your apartment.”
”Residents can use our party room for meetings or parties,” says Hirschfield. ”We prefer that nothing political is held here. We just don`t want to get hung up on that stuff.”
But that doesn`t keep the variety down. McClurg Court`s concierge, Signe Specht, says weddings, receptions, christenings and memorial services have been held in the party room.
Specht says residents can use the party room for a $75 fee and reservations must be made in writing.
”It`s an amenity that you have to have as someone living in an apartment,” says Versau. ”People come to expect space like this. Ten years ago, people had them in apartment buildings but didn`t use them as much as they do today. The party rooms were then underused, but with the convenience that they offer people see them differently.”
For some renters, the party room has become a vital amenity.
Griffith, who lives in McClurg Court, says she and her husband are among those who have come to rely on the additional space.
”I can`t really imagine living in an apartment building that does not have one,” says Griffith.
”We have our apartment and we also have access to the party room. We can have a certain kind of party when we have people to our apartment and expand the celebration when we decide to host the party in the party room,” she says.
Griffith says she and her husband have lived in McClurg Court for 13 years but only recently started using the party room.
”I guess we just recently started to have more things to celebrate,”
she says.
