New Amenity Firm URBN Playground Quadruples Its Number of Properties in First Year of Business

NEW YORK, Aug. 15, 2017 -- Full-service amenity management and consulting firm URBN Playground, founded by 15-year industry veteran Jeremy Brutus and prolific fitness guru and celebrity trainer Amy Blitz, have grown their fledging amenity management business into a diverse portfolio of properties, ranging from luxury condominiums in the Financial District to a swim and tennis club on Long Island.

The amenity management contracts range from the standard – lifeguarding and pool management services, porter services, and concierge / package valet services – to the unconventional, such as their most recently signed partnership with a new luxury residential rental condominium completed in 2016 and boasting over 30,000 square feet of amenity space. At this property, parcels aren’t just held by the valet – they are tagged and delivered straight to residents’ doorstep. Residents can engage with and book a personal trainer right in their residential gym, or sign up for a circuit training workout course specially designed for the property by Amy Blitz.

Explained Brutus, “In today’s competitive market, high-end residential properties are turning to unique and differentiated amenity offerings to make themselves stand out. More and more buildings are being designed with pet spas, rock climbing walls, salt rooms, wine rooms, and coffee bars for residents to enjoy as an extension of their homes.”

“Yet amid all these investments into amenity space, another crucial yet often overlooked amenity is neglected – the service that occurs within these spaces. At the end of the day, it’s the personal touch that turns a building from a house to a home. It’s being greeted by name or having your preferences remembered. Making residents feel truly at home requires the art of hospitality.”

Brutus believes that what is being done at their current properties is only the tip of the iceberg, and expects that more and more buildings will look to outsource their amenity management.

“Not every building manager has the know-how, expertise, or even time to pay attention to hospitality and lifestyle programming amid the many other priorities at hand – from managing rental contracts to building security and maintenance. We help buildings turn amenity space into a “Third Place” for people – the other place besides home where they feel relaxed and comfortable,” said Brutus.

Blitz, who oversees daily operations across URBN Playground’s sites, added: “We believe that the person looking at a new or existing rental or condo is choosing a lifestyle, rather than a cold, hard unit of space or built-up area. A lifestyle involves, first and foremost, people-driven interactions that are unique, memorable, positive, and personal. Such interactions may happen by chance, but it can also be engineered with the right planning and organization, delivered with intensity and passion. It is such interactions that are the hallmarks of the amenity servicing that URBN Playground does, drawing our experience from the luxury hospitality line and infusing it into all the properties we manage.”

About URBN Playground

Founded in 2016, URBN Playground is a full-service amenity management and consultancy firm headquartered in New York City, and is built on its co-founders’ passion for putting the human touch into amenity management. URBN Playground focuses on designing and delivering experiences, lifestyles, and moments that build connection and community – within cities, neighborhoods, and buildings.

For more information, please visit www.urbnplayground.com.

Media Contact:
Crystal Cha
+1 212-920-4299
[email protected]