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September 6, 2024Tri City Rentals Apartments to Go Completely Smoke-free by September 2025
In May, Tri City Rentals, a leading locally-owned apartment management company in the Capital Region, notified their residents that starting September 1, 2024, they will begin implementing a smoke-free policy for all their apartments in the area. This conversion is expected to be completed by September 1, 2025, although some communities may finish sooner. As monthly leases are renewed, current residents will need to sign a smoke-free lease agreement, which will prohibit smoking and vaping in all indoor spaces, including individual apartments and within 50 feet of the property.
“After years of converting our buildings individually, we’ve decided to implement a smoke-free policy across our entire Capital Region portfolio,” said Julie Massry Knox, Sales and Marketing Manager for Tri City Rentals. “This decision was driven by increasing interest from prospective tenants and the clear benefits to our residents’ health and safety.”
It is well known that secondhand smoke exposure poses health risks to everyone, but especially to children and to those with asthma and other health conditions exacerbated by exposure. And while most people do not allow smoking in their own homes, for those living in multi-unit housing, their exposure to secondhand smoke depends on their neighbors’ behavior as up to 65% of the air in an apartment can come from other units in the building. According to the American Society for Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineering, which develops standards for building ventilation systems, “the only means of avoiding health effects and eliminating indoor ETS [environmental tobacco smoke] exposure is to ban all smoking activity inside and near buildings.”
“Everyone deserves to breathe smoke-free air in their homes. Not just those who own their own homes, but everyone, including those renting in multi-unit buildings,” said Jeanie Orr, Director of Capital District Tobacco-Free Communities. “I applaud Tri City Rentals for taking this step to give their residents a healthier, safer place to live.”
Smoking is a leading cause of residential fire deaths. In 2021, it is estimated that there were 7,800 fires, 275 deaths, 750 injuries and $361,500,000 in loss due to residential building smoking fires.
Smoking can also cause extensive damage to apartment units, including burn marks on counters and stains on walls and cabinets. Compared to a non-smoking unit, it can cost on average six times more to rehabilitate a resident unit that has been smoked in.
Currently, 3 of the 27 Tri City Rentals apartment communities in the Capital Region already have a completely smoke-free policy, The Glen at Sugar Hill, Park South Apartments and 75 Willett. This is 1500 apartments, or 27% of the 5600 apartments in the Capital Region. Several other Tri City Rentals communities have been gradually converting buildings to a smoke-free policy as units turned over and a building no longer housed a smoking resident. Additionally, 100% of Tri City Rentals apartments in the Buffalo area are smoke-free as of April 2024 and 40% of the 10 properties in the Rochester area. Tri City Rentals is also undertaking the full conversion of apartments this year in Rochester.
In response to this desire for smoke-free living, a growing number of market-rate, public and affordable housing property owners have chosen to adopt smoke-free housing policies. Capital District Tobacco-Free Communities (CDTFC), has worked with property management companies, including Tri City Rentals, United Group of Companies, DePaul Housing and public housing authorities to adopt smoke-free policies throughout Albany, Schenectady and Rensselaer counties. CDTFC assists property owners by conducting surveys to assess tenant support for policy change, providing sample policy language, meeting with tenant groups, supplying signage, and promoting smoke-free buildings.
“The success of our first completely smoke-free community, The Glen at Sugar Hill, encouraged us to continue offering smoke-free options for our residents,” said Julie Massry Knox. “We are excited to now be able to provide all of our residents with a healthy and clean place to live.”
