When Choosing a Condo, Which Is Better: A High-Rise or Low-Rise Building?

ONE OF THE MOST ASKED SHOWROOM QUESTIONS

I get this question almost every day in the Arthaus Showroom: what’s the difference between a condo in a 107-unit luxury high-rise and one in a low-rise, boutique-style building? Both are called condos. On paper they look the same, but they are not the same investment. In fact, they live very differently, and most buyers don’t understand the nuances until they’ve signed on the dotted line and live it first-hand.

WHOSE JOB IS IT ANYWAY?

Low-rise buildings are often self-managed, informally, by the owners themselves because there isn’t a dedicated staff. The HOA fees are lower but that comes with a caveat. Living in a small building requires a level of cooperation and coordination among the residents for smooth operations.

• Buzzed intercoms need answering — yours and your neighbors.
• Taking trash to the curb is each resident’s responsibility.
• Lockouts can be inconvenient especially late at night.
• Packages left on the outside doorstep can disappear.
• Mail can pile up in the vestibule when neighbors are away.
• Cleaning of common spaces might not be as tidy as you’d expect.
• With no dedicated manager to call when there’s a problem like a stuck garage door, or cracked tiles in the entryway, residents must jump in and fill the gaps in coordinating maintenance.

High-rise buildings operate with a dedicated, on-site management team whose entire job is to maintain the building and serve the needs of the residents. The HOA fees for this level of service are higher, but they buy a true lock-and-leave lifestyle. Most residents report greater peace of mind when traveling and an overall feeling of security. For example, a high-rise like Arthaus has:

• A full-time door attendant who knows your face and greets you when you return home, no front door key or passcode required to gain entry, the door is opened for you.
• The 24/7 concierge signs for your packages, refrigerates cold packages, holds your dry cleaning, greets your guests, and handles the small logistics of daily life.
• There are no intercoms to answer, doors to buzz, codes to give, or lockouts to worry about.
• Each floor has a trash chute. Residents deposit their trash there and the building staff takes the trash to the curb.
• Resident mail is inserted by a U.S. postal worker in the dedicated key locked unit box in the mailroom, which is located off the main lobby. Mail stays orderly and private.
• Your personal car is parked for you and a chauffeured town car is at your disposal when you’d rather be driven.

SECURITY, FROM YOUR FRONT DOOR TO YOUR CAR

Security isn’t just about locks — it’s about how safe you feel making the trip from your front door to your car and back. In a high-rise like Arthaus, there are no keys to fumble with at the entrance: a doorman recognizes you and greets you every time you come and go, day or night. Parking follows the same philosophy. A private porte-cochère driveway and valet-attended garage mean you’re never walking through an open lot or a dark garage alone — your car is brought to you, without ever stepping onto the sidewalk. In a low-rise building, that same trip usually means leaving the building altogether. Without direct garage access, residents often must go outside the building to reach a nearby lot or street parking, schlepping groceries and packages — in every kind of weather, at every hour.

THE VIEW ONLY HEIGHT CAN ACHIEVE

There’s a physical reality to a low-rise building that you can’t engineer around: you can’t have a skyline view from the third floor especially if the building was built on an infill lot between other buildings. Height matters when it comes to views. A high-rise puts you well above the tree line, and the higher you go, the better the views become. Arthaus, being the tallest building on the Avenue of the Arts at 47-stories, is known for its sweeping skyline and river views.

IF OUTDOOR SPACES MATTER TO YOU

Outdoor space tells the same story as views. Small buildings rarely have room within the building’s footprint for outdoor spaces — maybe a small balcony or deck off select units but rarely expansive green space. A high-rise, like Arthaus, can build up and dedicate roof top space to amenities like terraces, greenhouses, pools, gardens, dog runs, and resident gardening plots. In addition, each Arthaus residence comes with at least one oversized weather protected balcony to enjoy year-round.

AGING IN PLACE, WITHOUT COMPROMISE

Single-level living was already the appeal of condo ownership. A high-rise takes it further: white-glove staff on-site, elevators as a given rather than an afterthought, and a level of built-in support that makes staying in your home — rather than moving again in ten years — a realistic plan, not just a hope.

GREENER BY DESIGN

High-rise condos are often designed with energy efficiency as a priority. Modern construction standards call for sustainability at every stage, and it shows. Many high-rises feature energy-efficient appliances, high-performance insulated windows, and advanced heating and cooling systems engineered to conserve energy. The payoff is twofold — a smaller environmental footprint for the building, and lower utility bills for the people living in it.

A TAX PERK BOTH TYPES SHARE

One advantage low-rise and high-rise buyers share: new construction in Philadelphia typically qualifies for the city’s property tax abatement. For a set number of years, owners pay property tax only on the value of the land — not the new structure built on it — which can translate to a meaningful reduction in your annual tax bill during that window. Terms and the phase-in schedule have changed over the years, so it’s worth confirming the current details before you buy.

WHO BUILT IT

A high-rise is a complex undertaking — sophisticated design, layered permitting and approvals, significant financing — and it tends to attract developers who’ve done it before, repeatedly, at a high level. Banks won’t finance large-scale projects unless the developer in charge passes their stringent due diligence. Carl Dranoff is that kind of developer, a civil engineer with an MBA from Harvard with decades of experience delivering large-scale, architecturally significant projects across Philadelphia. He is a hometown builder with a stellar reputation for selling out Philadelphia’s most prestigious urban luxury addresses like One Riverside, Symphony House, Two Liberty Place and 10 Rittenhouse. Small buildings are often easier to finance and permit, which means they can attract less experienced developers — sometimes doing their first ground-up project. Experience shows up later in the details you can’t see on a walkthrough: how the building was designed and engineered, the quality of the materials used, how the mechanicals were specified, how skilled the workers and subs were. All of these invisible factors matter down the road, not only in how a home lives but how well it retains its value.

LOCATION TELLS ITS OWN STORY

Small buildings are almost always infill — a narrow lot, a gap between two existing structures, a site too tight or too oddly shaped for a large-scale project to pencil out. That’s not incidental, it’s structural. A 3- to 6-unit building can fit where a high-rise never could, which is exactly why so many of Philadelphia’s boutique condo projects sit a block or two off the main corridor on a side street rather than anchoring a premier corner in a top location. High-rises claim trophy lots. Arthaus is at the corner of Broad and Spruce, across from the Kimmel Center on the world-class Avenue of the Arts.

RENOVATE? YOU’RE THE GENERAL CONTRACTOR

Buy resale in a condo building and you’ll likely want to update something before move-in — a kitchen, a bath, open a wall, build a new closet. In a low-rise, that project is entirely yours to run. You oversee securing HOA approvals, being home to receive every delivery, coordinating use of the loading dock and freight elevator, letting in the contractors, and coordinating utility shutoffs. There’s no building staff to assist, you are the building staff.

BIG BUILDING OR SMALL: WHO ARE THE RIGHT BUYERS?

In my opinion, boutique buildings tend to suit younger buyers who are stretching financially to get into a charming neighborhood and can’t yet qualify with the added carry of the HOA of a full-service building on top of the mortgage. They are okay with having more of a hands-on relationship with where they live — taking out their trash to the curb, handling light maintenance — and are happy to trade staff for a lower monthly fee. The exposed brick, tall ceilings, and industrial character that often define many of Philadelphia’s small conversions also appeal to a buyer who wants that loft-and-warehouse aesthetic. High rise buyers tend to want a sophisticated, polished vibe in a trophy location that friends and family will envy. They want amenities and services available for hassle-free, no maintenance, easy living. Having the freedom to get up and go without a worry, the epitome of a lock and leave lifestyle is everything to them. They also want a home that is well built, designed by a top architect, with luxury finishes that hold its value, and gives them peace of mind with their investment.

WHICH HOLDS VALUE BETTER?

It’s the question every buyer eventually asks, and the honest answer is that neither building type wins automatically. Resale value in Philadelphia’s condo market comes down to features, location, building condition, and how well the association has funded its reserves.  Where the two tend to diverge is buyer pool. Center City broker Mark Wade, who has tracked this market for more than three decades, has observed that full-service buildings tend to draw the deepest and most liquid resale pool — local buyers, out-of-town transplants, and investors who are specifically paying for security, convenience, and predictability, which helps keep demand steady even when the broader market cools. The most popular resale buildings typically meet the buyers desire for a lock and leave lifestyle in a building that is engineered to last and is financially well managed — which, again, comes down to experience, scale, and management.

THE FEE BUYS THE FREEDOM

Yes, white-glove service and resort-caliber amenities come with a higher HOA fee.  That may seem like a large diffential at first when looking at the financials of a high rise and low rise side by side.   But the honest question isn’t whether the fee is higher. It’s what you’re getting for that fee over the course of your life and how it impacts how comfortable you live.  Higher fees translate to more time, increased security, easier living in a dynamic location that feels stimulating.  A lower HOA fee in a small building can look like savings on paper, until you’re locked out at night, tracking down building maintenance, taking out your own trash, and walking a few blocks to retrieve your car.