Free COVID Antibody Testing Joins Luxury Amenities As Buildings Accommodate Shelter-In-Place Orders

It used to be all about cocktail hours and fitness classes. But now luxury buildings are catering to their clients with coronavirus testing, free masks and gloves, plus a few virtual events with celebrities thrown in.

In Miami South Beach The Continuum partnered with doctors from Mount Sinai hospital and USA Sports Medicine to host a three-day pop-up event that provided free COVID antibody testing for residents and employees.

“We’re redirecting our funds to things that are more important to our residents right now which is health and safety,” said Rishi Idnani, Managing Director of the Continuum. “We were able to negotiate a bulk rate for the antibody testing [that] was paid directly by the association as a service. ”

Rishi wasn’t able to provide numbers of on how many residents were staying at the building, but out of the total number of 522 units there were over 400 residents who chose to get tested. Additionally, over 120 employees were tested during the three day event. Employees and residents can continue to obtain free testing by booking an appointment at the clinic a few blocks away.

The building also stockpiled enough gloves and masks to have a six month supply on hand so that they wouldn’t be out of supplies when hurricane season hits later this summer. As a way to keep things lighthearted the gloves and masks were delivered with personalized Easter baskets in lieu of the annual Easter egg hunt the building hosts, which would typically see several hundred people gathering on the grounds.

Rishi also shared that they have redirected some of their staff to more housekeeping tasks and they haven’t had to lay off or furlough any full time employees. The building’s restaurant has been delivering meals to units as well as providing a way for residents to order basic pantry items through their suppliers. The restaurant has also adapted its menu so that it changes daily to maintain interest from residents who have been staying on site ever since the shelter-in-place orders began.

New York developer Extell has taken to asking their resident celebrities to get involved with their amenity program. Former “Bachelorette” contestant Tyler Cameron, who lives at One Manhattan Square, will host workout classes from his home. Also, famed chef Charlie Palmer, who has an apartment at Extell’s Hudson Square building, as well as many restaurants in New York City (and others around the country), will host a series of online cooking demos for fellow residents.

“The first dish we’re going to do is basically a salmon roasted on top of a bed of cabbage,” said Palmer who spoke by phone from his home. “It’s a one dish meal. One thing that I’ve learned quickly here cooking at home a lot is I don’t have any dishwashers or prep cooks. So it’s me cooking and it’s me doing the dishes. It’s amazing how few dishes just you can cook with.”

Also in the culinary world, residents of the Four Seasons Private Residences at 706 Mission in San Francisco can take part in Zoom sessions with wine industry luminaries, including a session with Ray Isle, executive wine editor of Food & Wine magazine. These will be curated by their go-to wine purveyor, Kerrin Laz, founder of a tasting room at The Culinary Institute of America’s Napa location. Similarly, local art consulting firm MDG Art Advisory will be available for video consultations to help residents build and display their art collections.

This post first appeared on Forbes.com. To see the original, click here.