Apartment owners and managers are adding wheelbarrows and shears to their amenity toolbox.
According to the American Community Gardening Association, there are at least 18,000 community gardens throughout the United States and Canada. And more and more of them are in apartment communities.
That's because property managers see vegetable and flower gardens as creative solutions to two pressing problems: increased competition for tenants and pressure to lower operating costs. But these resident-maintained green spaces yield other benefits, including stronger resident commitment, better retention, speedier entitlements, and improved property values.
BOUNTIFUL BENEFITS The promise of a working garden, no matter how small, can be a draw for residents.
For instance, The Danny Woo Community Garden in Seattle's International District serves low-income, elderly residents of the area's apartments and single-occupancy hotel rooms. “The residents need a place to plant vegetables they are used to eating, and the garden is a place to socialize with their peers,” explains Jennifer Jin Brower, garden/outreach manager for the Inter*Im Community Development Association, which created and maintains the garden to serve tenants in surrounding rental properties.
Garden space also can attract higher-income tenants, notes Todd Tibbits, senior vice president of property services for Post Properties. The Atlanta-based company maintains urban gardens at 14 of its 62 communities.
“The gardens are a great recruitment tool for empty nesters,” he says. “Often, downsizing from a house to an apartment means leaving your gardening hobby behind. Communities with urban vegetable gardens help alleviate that problem. During tours, the urban vegetable garden is a great conversation starter. It contributes so much to the sense of community.”
Retention increases, as well, since residents can interact with their neighbors. “Whether it's by gardening together or meeting at community-coordinated events in the garden, it helps our residents get to know each other,” Tibbits adds.
CLIPPING COSTS Tibbits estimates that the company's urban gardens cost between $5,000 and $30,000 to get started, depending on the size and hardscaping features. “Fencing, arbors, tool storage bins, and benches can get pricey, but the garden plots alone are quite affordable,” he says.
Community managers at Post properties allot $900 a year to maintain the gardens in addition to annual grounds maintenance costs of $300 per garden-style unit, $150 per mid-rise unit, and $75 per high-rise unit.
“This covers not only seeds, plants, and supplies for residents, but also refreshments served at garden events. Community gardens pay for themselves in the same way a community pool or tennis court does—in resident satisfaction.”
A number of resident gardens actually cover their own costs through plot-rental fees. Professional Community Management of California covers the cost of the 1.201 plots at Laguna Woods Village by doing just that. Rental charges range from $26 to $53 per vegetable plot annually, depending on the size. Fruit tree plots and shade-house space are less. The garden center has a net expense, after rental income, of approximately $60,000 per year.
“This is a reasonable cost compared to other amenities and when compared to the value that a garden adds,” explains Kurt Rahn, PCM's director of landscaping and recreation. PCM manages 225 homeowner and community associations. “Costs are lower because the residents are responsible for the care of their plots and less staff is needed.”
ORGANIC VALUE A 2006 study from New York University found that “community gardens have significant positive effects on surrounding property values in all neighborhoods, and that those effects are substantial in the poorest of host neighborhoods (raising neighboring property values by as much as 9.5 percentage points within five years of the garden's opening).”
Though the increase was highest in low-income neighborhoods, values in higher-income neighborhoods did improve with the addition of a high-quality community garden.
That kind of quality requires continual upkeep. In general, residents are responsible for tending the gardens, but some community managers like Post and PCM provide a landscape professional to offer advice or take over plots that aren't kept up.
“Be ready to take it over if and when the tenants become disinterested in the project,” suggests James Ramos, partner and principal-in-charge of landscaping at Denver-based Nuszer Kopatz, a planning and design firm. “Have a back-up plan so the space can be utilized to its full potential and enjoyed by the entire community.”
In the end, beauty isn't the only thing community gardens offer. “The intangible, creative and ecological opportunities it offers residents can be easily overlooked,” Tibbits says. “It's a well known fact that people like to be in touch with nature, and community gardens are a great way to provide that.”
Margot Carmichael Lester is a freelance writer in Carrboro, N.C.
Resident Files Setting Roots
Thinking about installing a community garden? Consider this expert advice:
- Build in accessibility. A height of 14 inches and width of 4 feet ensures accessibility for the elderly, children, and those with physical limitations. “Raised beds are much easier to take care of and maintain the fertility,” says Eric Michiellsen, asset manager and broker for Peoples' Self-Help Housing Corp., a nonprofit developer in San Luis Obispo, Calif. “It also helps to keep out gophers and other pests. And if the beds are raised a bit, one doesn't have to stoop so much, which is important to seniors.”
- Establish rules. Expectations for upkeep and appearance should be made clear from the start to ensure the garden remains an asset, says Kurt Rahn, director of landscaping and recreation for Professional Community Management of California. “These rules help to shape and maintain the beauty of the community. However, keep in mind that the rules can change as the garden and the resident's expectations mature,” he adds
- Provide support. In addition to hiring on-site staff, bring in experts to help resident gardeners improve the space and stay interested. “Other groups [can] help teach organic gardening, composting, and water conservation [so you can have] a more environmentally friendly garden free of pesticides, and for positive sustainability,” advises Jennifer Jin Brower, garden/outreach manager for Seattle's Interim Community Development Association.