Robert Jarvis Signature Properties: 525 Hawthorne Place new Laundry Technologies

Hawthorne Place Condominiums recently updated [added] new laundry facilities. The original laundry facilities located on the 2nd floor just outside the exercise facilities and pool and sundeck amenities is currently operational.

The new facilities are located on the first floor near the indoor parking garage entrance of the 525 Hawthorne Place just outside the onsite drycleaners and service elevator.

Both facilities utilize laundry cards that resemble debit cards to start the washers and dryers. The original system requires the residents of Hawthorne Place to visit the laundry room and add value to the card via a bill acceptor.

The new facility allows the residents to also add cash at a similar cash station, but also utilizes the newest technologies to add value via the web using your debit card. In addition to the ease of adding value, the new machines will electronically contact the resident when the machine has completed its cycle.

While I am partial to this technology given my prior experience in the laundry industry, for a residential establishment, this wireless communication from the machine to the resident is quite impressive.

Traditionally I would not recommend an encouragement to users to leave a laundry facility and wait for a text message that a cycle is complete. From a revenue standpoint [similar to that of a restaurant with table turnover], the faster a machine [or table] is turned over for the next customer, the more opportunity there is to make money.

In a residential community like 525 Hawthorne Place Condominiums, the addition of 14 new washers and 14 new dryers available for 232 unit owners statistically makes sense to limit the wait time needed for an available machine.

How important is this new technology to you when you are looking to buy a condo in Chicago?