Although government requirements related to the pandemic have lifted, not everyone is ready to return to life as normal. Many people are choosing to mask and physically distance, and these effects from the pandemic could linger for years.

Apartment owners are finding ways to adjust existing common spaces and amenities to make residents feel comfortable. One method has been to de-densify shared spaces to allow users to adequately social distance, according to Dale Brown, a principal at ONYX Architects. Brown is speaking on the Adapting to Change: New Space Requirements, Designs & Amenities panel at the GlobeSt.com Apartments conference on October 26 and 27, where he will talk about the changes that apartment owners are making post-pandemic.

"You are still seeing a lot of the same common amenities, but the scale of those is going down. Instead of one large fitness facility in an apartment complex, it will get split up into two or three fitness centers so that the equipment is more spread out and there are less people in one space," Brown tells GlobeSt.com. "That follows through with common outdoor spaces and clubrooms. All of those spaces are being broken down in order to provide spaces that people are comfortable in."