3 family remodel: boiler or forced air and mini split

[Garvin Yu]

We are in contract to purchase a 3 family in a "class C" area and it's in need of total rehab. 

The current heating situation is separate forced hot air duct runs to 1st and 2nd floor units, the 3rd floor is ducted off the 2nd floor. The furnaces are stripped and need to be replaced, and the 3rd floor needs to be separated from the 2nd. 

We got a quote for replacing the 2 gas furnaces, capping off 3rd floor ducts, and installing a Mitsubishi mini split system in the 3rd. The quote is about $20k, and doesn't even include hot water or the other plumbing work we need. 

Another contractor said cheapest and best option is to do gas wall hung boilers (instant hot water) and baseboard radiators in all 3 units, all mechanicals located witin the units. Each unit has a small walk in pantry area in the kitchen that we'll put the boiler and also setup for laundry area. The quote was $18k materials and $12k labor which includes all the other plumbing work in the house. 

Our questions:

1. In your experience do you like boilers and baseboard radiators or forced hot air for your rental properties?  

2. What do you think is more appealing for tenants: small walk in kitchen pantry or turn it into a laundry room? The basement is pretty crummy. 

We're thinking the high efficiency and lower utility bill for tenants with the wall hung gas boilers is a huge plus. We're looking for reliability and less long term maintenance cost as the main priority. 

Thanks!