Never-Before-Seen NASA Photos Join The Latest Trends In High-End Amenities

It is getting harder for developers to come up with new ideas for amenities to attract residents to luxury buildings. From roof top decks to spas, everything’s been done (or so it seems). Instead of trying to find something completely unique, the latest trend is for developers to take what is already out there to a much more granular level—to a place where no man has gone before, you might say?

That’s the latest move for a building such as The Continuum Residences in Miami Beach. They have partnered with a local collector, Rudolf Budja, to showcase part of his 8,000-strong private photo collection of images purchased from NASA that have never been released to the public before. It isn’t just a luxury building having an art opening (which has been done), it’s private access to images that have been under lock and key at NASA for decades. Exclusivity is the new name of the game when it comes to high-end buildings, whether it is private tours of museums or farmers-in-residence who help you grow vegetables on your balcony. Before I get to that and more in the latest news for amenity trends, here are a few pictures from the NASA collection that haven’t been published anywhere else.

A candid moment between astronauts.

On route to the mission.

Coming home.

Besides exclusive photo collections, all other forms of art are going one step further in amenity trends. The Four Seasons Private Residences on Mission Street in San Francisco has partnered with a local curator from MDG Art Advisory who will provide one-on-one art consulting services to assist residents in developing and showcasing their own collection. There will also be opportunities to have priority access to the local art scene, including automatic access to the Curator’s Circle at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. 

Music has received just as much attention as amenities become more granular and specific. What was once considered cutting edge—sound-proof practice rooms and a recording studio or two—has become standard and now it is all about bringing the music in-house. A New York building at 200 Amsterdam is near the Lincoln Center and residents get a free year-long exclusive membership with pre-sale access, complimentary festival tickets and backstage passes. This is in addition to their “Little Composers” room for kids that comes with musical instruments and is, thankfully, soundproof. A building at 5 River Park has not only a sound proof room, but it also comes with a performance stage so residents can hold a small concert. The building at 30 Warren has partnered with teachers from Church Street School for Music and Art so residents can have priority access to classes and other services provided. 

Outside of art and music, leisure activities from all across the spectrum are reaching greater heights with private kayaking docks (at 444 Social in Chicago) or a resident-only indoor skate park deigned by SITE Design Group (at Waterline Square in New York). Then there are the in-house chefs that host private supper clubs for residents. The latter is the brainchild of 475 Clermont that has partnered with Resident, a ‘culinary accelerator’ start-up based in Brooklyn, that identifies up-and-coming culinary talent and helps them grow their career by facilitating private dining experiences so they can gain more exposure while being paid for their work. 

Food has taken center stage at the Staten Island location of the Urby rental concept buildings, where they have a 5,000 square foot vegetable garden run by a farmer-in-residence for residents. Similarly, at the Ritz-Carlton Residences in Miami Beach developers created a Ecological Food Forest—a self-sustainable ecosystem of edible plants and vegetables from Central America, Caribbean and Asia. The Ritz-Carlton has also partnered with Foodscapes Capabilities, which will help create personalized edible gardens on individual terraces or balconies (prices start at $500 on up to $10,000).

The same Ritz building has another slight ecological bent with a Sharing Room where residents can donate pre-owned luxury items (everything from skis to musical instruments) giving other residents first dibs on the goods. A mobile app shows residents what has been recently added and all unclaimed items are donated after 30 days. Further to the ecology angle, the Timbers Kiawah resort in South Carolina has partnered with fashion label Peter Millar to raise awareness about saving sea turtles by having them create original turtle prints to decorate the bike cruisers available for resident use.

Travel gets its due as well. Residents of the Astéras Kings building in Los Angeles have complimentary membership to The Private Suite at LAX where they can go through TSA screening privately without waiting in long lines, hang out in style and then be driven directly to their flight in a BMW sedan. Also at 3550 South Ocean in Palm Beach the building’s developer, DDG, has an exclusive partnership with private aircraft company Star Jets which will provide door-to-door car transfers, itinerary customization, jet selection and onboard catering as part of the package.

But what would a look at amenities be without a focus on the latest in wellness trends? The penthouse at 66 East 11th Street is following on the new trend of Vitamin-C infused showers, which is said to neutralize chlorine in water and help build healthier skin and hair. With interiors designed by Interior Marketing Group, it also has anti-microbial surface coating on high-touch areas, “posture-supportive” oak flooring and in-duct aromatherapy. Plus the kitchen comes with a juicing station and window-box herbarium. A Beverly Hills home, dubbed “The Wellness House”, comes with many of the standard luxury wellness perks, as well as a juice-ologist’s private label cold-pressed juices delivered to the home twice a week and a yoga instructor to provide private classes in-home twice a week, both free for the first 3 months. 

High-rise buildings are following similar trends with all-encompassing systems that touch on every aspect of wellness. The Amrit building in Palm Beach has built a Inhalation Therapy Chamber that uses negatively charged ions in salt vapor to promote wellness. At 40 Bleecker they provide in-home IV-drips to help cure hangovers, as well as full-body cryotherapy and cryo-facials (from Clean Market). The residents at Madison House have a free one-year membership to Sollis Health—a member-only medical concierge service with 24/7 facilities.

Even more granular is an increased focus on air quality. The Atlantic in Philadelphia uses ATMOS which includes the feature of pumping fresh outdoor, filtered air into the building’s gym so people working out don’t have to breathe stale air. A building in Coral Gables, Florida, Villa Valencia, uses a system called DARWIN that relies on algorithms to monitor air quality sensors and automatically activate the air purification system when the air quality falls below pre-set levels. But it hasn’t all gone the way of artificial intelligence. For enhancing the air quality in outdoor spaces, the Eighty Seven Park building in Miami comes with a full-time botanist who will assist residents with their private balcony gardens. 

But perhaps the most important perk of all? Helping people get ahead in their career. The building at 525 West 52nd brought in an executive coach for professional development services and hosted a pop-up professional photo station so residents can update their headshots. That’s the final piece in how buildings are attracting buyers and renters—with exclusive access to perks that relates to every facet of their life: work, fun, food and family.

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