Rise in online shopping causes overflow of packages delivered during holidays

With the holiday shopping season right around the corner, many of us will be doing our holiday shopping online. And for some apartment buildings, that means storage rooms will be overflowing with deliveries.

Some property managers say they've seen the number of packages double or triple in recent years. One company is even banning residents from having packages delivered to their apartments because it takes up too much time for staff to track them down and deliver them.

As a concierge at Lime in Uptown Minneapolis, its Chris Robinson’s job to make sure residents are well taken care of. But one of his main priorities is delivering the dozens of packages that arrive every day to his residents' apartments.

With the rise in online shopping sites with free shipping, apartment buildings have seen an explosion in the number of packages being dropped off by FedEx and UPS.

Some developers like Saturday Properties, which also runs Blue and Flex in uptown, have designed their buildings with package rooms to store deliveries -- while it’s new complex being built in Golden Valley will have package lockers in the lobby so residents can pick them up at their convenience.

"I live in a house and it’s frustrating when a package can't be delivered,” Robinson said. “We know our residents live busy lives and if there is something we can do to make their lives easier we are happy to do it."

Meanwhile, Dock Street Flats in downtown Minneapolis not only has a package room, but front desk workers also scan deliveries into a computer system which sends residents an email telling them to pick up their items when they get home.

But Robinson says delivering packages is good exercise.  And with the holidays just ahead, he won't mind getting a good workout.

"The more the better. I order a lot online. I can't get mad at anyone else. I can't get mad at anyone else,” he said.  

One luxury apartment building said it has a special refrigerator for for residents who get flowers or food delivered.  Some complexes on the East Coast even hiring full time package concierges to deal with all those deliveries.