In San Diego’s recession-proof residential real estate market, a luxury rental trend is on the rise. Working professionals, entrepreneurs and even families are choosing to pay a premium for high-end apartments and the accompanying amenities and services that provide an upscale lifestyle.

Although these units are priced between $1,225 and $2,895 per month, the freshly coined “lifestyle renters” find leasing their homes preferable to taking on a mortgage — for reasons that include flexibility, convenience, or just having more time for fun.

“A rental community doesn’t have the headaches associated with home ownership,” says Louis Kuntz, regional development partner with the Carlsbad office of The Morgan Group Inc., whose rental projects include The Missions at Rio Vista in Mission Valley and 101 Market Street, scheduled to open April 1 Downtown. “We’re encountering a renter-by-choice market — these are people who have the incomes to purchase a single family home but don’t for various reasons.”

Apartments in The Morgan Group’s communities have 9-foot ceilings, crown molding, and an appliance package with a full-size washer and dryer in every unit, Kuntz says. Granite countertops, tile flooring, computer desks and office niches with high-speed data wiring, attached garages with direct entry and intrusion alarms round out the offerings.

“It’s those amenities that make the units so popular,” Kuntz says. Along with the physical amenities, the management caters to the renter’s needs.

“People are so busy now that we try to take the maintenance burden as well as the daily routine chores off them with the design and the management of our project,” he says. “This way, people have more time to enjoy themselves.”

Kuntz says the type of people moving into his developments can vary, but the average age is 35 to 37 years old and the average annual income is $70,000. The tenants are mostly white-collar professionals and about 60 percent are female.

Kuntz says an underlying need for luxury apartments has created growth in the high-end rental industry.

“Up until 1996, this type of Class-A luxury product had not been built,” he says. “We and other developers introduced this renter-by-choice product in ’96 and ’97. Obviously there was a pent-up demand for it.”

Russ Valone, president of Market Point Realty Advisors in Downtown, points to earlier origins of the luxury renting trend.

“It really started in the early ’90s in the University City area with a couple projects that offered conference facilities and a variety of other amenities that were not traditionally offered in apartment complexes,” he says. For Downtown, luxury renting came of age in the mid-1990s when CityFront Terrace opened and commanded rents significantly higher than those seen in the marketplace before, Valone says.

“The 20 or so newer projects that have been developed in the last two years have enhanced architecture, amenities and services,” Valone says. “The more upscale apartments have more desirable addresses, like Downtown, University City and Mission Valley.”

Valone sees the lack of new condo construction creating limits on opportunities for home ownership, forcing would-be owners of condos or townhomes into upscale apartment rentals.

“The people able to afford this may have been would-be condo buyers,” he says. “As we see housing prices continue to escalate, more people will be forced into the rental market and there will be more demand for luxury product.”

Back on the development side, Tina West of the Monarch Group agrees with Kuntz, noting that certain individuals are looking to become lifestyle renters. West is president of the La Jolla-based Monarch Group, which in December 2000 completed the second of two phases in its Regents Park Place community in UTC.

“This segment of the population can afford to purchase homes; however, the flexibility, service and stress-free living environment that we create is highly desirable by this type of individual,” West says. “Today’s lifestyle renter enjoys the flexibility that renting offers compared to the commitment needed from a mortgage.”

Similar to the Morgan Group, Monarch Group apartments offer crown molding, Berber carpeting, wood flooring, accent wall colors, and modern home office technology, such as high-speed ethernet data connections and multiple phone lines. Teleconference centers to host meetings and conference calls, 24-hour fitness centers, cooking classes, movie theaters with surround sound, and an on-site spa also are included.

These community-based amenities are part of what drew 31-year-old Marci Germain, who runs a home-based business, to Regents Park Place.

“It’s a tremendous community that offers a lot — two gyms, cooking classes and party facilities,” Germain says. Germain and her husband, Brian, relocated from Los Angeles last June for his work as an engineer. After they sold their L.A. home, they chose luxury renting as a shift between the two cities.

“At this point, it’s a transition between owning a home in L.A. and owning a home here,” Germain says. “Since San Diego is so expensive, we didn’t want to buy anything here until we were really familiar with the area and sure we were going to be staying here. But we don’t feel pressed to buy a home because we really enjoy where we live now.” In fact, the couple has just renewed their six-month lease.

West says couples, families, single professionals and retirees are coming into Monarch’s luxury rental communities. Entrepreneurs also find high-end renting desirable because it allows them the flexibility to relocate to new cities as new opportunities arise.

“Today’s lifestyle renter has a very specific list of requirements,” West says. “After all, the lifestyle renter pays a premium for the lifestyle of their dreams, and they want to see the value in return.”