Expensive Renovations for Rental Apartments

With rents rising rapidly, some luxury tenants are investing in extensive renovations rather than looking for new homes. The rise of the pricey—but temporary—redo.

Jeffry Weisman, a 53-year-old interior designer who is a principal in the firm Fisher Weisman renovated his rental apartment in San Francisco shortly after he moved in 20 years ago, spending about $100,000 to remodel the master bedroom and kitchen.

Five years ago, after Mr. Weisman’s now-husband Andrew Fisher moved in, they invested about $200,000 in another extensive remodel: They tore down walls to create a formal dining room, added new molding and wall panels with antique mirrors, covered the ceiling with pewter-leaf tea paper, updated all the lighting and refinished the floors.

Mr. Weisman says the decision to renovate a rental rather than buy an apartment was mostly about the convenience of living in an apartment: being able to close the door and not worry about anything given how much he travels. The couple owns a house in Mexico where they spend much of the year and maintaining that house takes a lot of their energy, he says. ‘It’s home. We have a close relationship with the landlords,’ says Mr. Weisman. They’re like family.’