The Set, a new residential property in New York City’s Hudson Yards district, is reconfiguring the Manhattan apartment for the post-covid era.
Designed for busy professionals commuting into a New York City office just two to three times a week, The Set is offering leases as short as six months, in addition to an on-site health clinic, a co-working space, and a private residents-only club. The clinic run by Sollis Health will provide a 24-hour doctor, emergency room services, radiology, and lab.
During lockdown, renters started searching for larger apartments and also buildings with office spaces, meeting rooms, outdoor spaces, and pet washing stations. This shift marks a change from a distinct line between home, work, and services, to a mindset in which everything exists in one place.
The Set embodies this new ideal. All units in the apartment tower from real estate developer Related Companies, come fully furnished with designer decor. The building also provides 50,000 square feet of amenities with floors devoted to healthcare, work, and play, including a restaurant and bar open only to residents by chef Dan Kluger.
None of this comes cheap in New York City’s costly rental market although prices have tapered off since the summer. A studio at The Set starts at $5,200 and a one-bedroom upwards of $7,200 for rent, inclusive of all services and amenities.
Covid has changed the amenities luxury residents want
While perks like a gym or lounge are not new for luxury buildings, Related Companies says most high-end residences offer “empty amenities” and The Set wants to distinguish itself by providing a “director of experience” to help residents make use of the spaces.
“We knew that this sort of hybrid hotel and work-from-home, and residential experience was the next sort of generation of luxury living,” said The Set’s vice president of development, Hailey Sarage.
“If you work from home and you have a meeting up on the office floor, they can make sure that your presentation is loaded into the onto the TV,” said Sarage. “If you need that meeting catered, they’ll make sure that that’s all catered, and all the tech is working. If you need an IV drip the next day after you had a fun night up in the Set Club drinking Dan Kluger’s custom cocktails, we can provide that as well.”
The concept for The Set originated in 2019. Even before the pandemic, the company noticed a desire for a flexible work-from-home setup.
“There were major trends around healthcare and wellness being critical for people. One of the other major trends was just how convenience and service is key as people have demanding lives and are extremely busy,” Sarage said.
A work-life hybrid
The developer believes this project can also help address some of the fewer opportunities to network, a common complaint since the pandemic. A Harvard Business Review study found that the average person’s professional and personal networks have shrunk by nearly 16%—or by more than 200 people—during the pandemic and that kind of network shrinkage can hinder career progression as well as overall happiness.
“For people who are working from home, especially post-covid, they’re really missing the opportunities of networking that they used to get in the office,” said Sarage. “Our Set Club sort of provides that thing that is definitely missing from the work-from-home era.”