CREJ

November 2016 — Multifamily Properties Quarterly —

Page 29

the amount of affordable housing

that is still in, or connected to, plac-

es people want to live. Traditionally,

renters are attracted to the activity

and energy of an urban core, but

often are priced out of living there.

The addition of these new station

centers with high-quality live-work-

play opportunities makes this living

attainable. Residents can walk down

to the local microbrew or catch the

train downtown and be in the mid-

dle of it all with a short walk from

their front door to the train. The

greater sense of attainability will

create pride in the neighborhood

and a sense of home for people who

may otherwise be more transient in

nature.

It took great forethought and

vision for the city of Denver to get

out in front of public transporta-

tion. Creating opportunities for new

housing near these transit hubs

will have long-term

impacts for each sta-

tion and neighbor-

hood. Walking dis-

tance to public transit

hubs reduces regional

traffic and helps alle-

viate congestion, pol-

lution and lost effi-

ciency. Daily walking

has a measurable fac-

tor in public health

as well, resulting in

improved fitness and

reduced health care

costs. Walking com-

mutes – even a few

blocks – encourages

critical social interac-

tions with neighbors

and vendors, which

in turn builds a sense

of community, cohe-

siveness and public

spirit for years to

come.

online and able to feel the unique cul-

ture of the area our project is in,” said

Rinehart.

If you’re a new property on the mar-

ket, you should have a web presence

right away. This is key in starting that

relationship with potential renters and

gets you an early and growing interest

list. Also, the sooner you have a web-

site in place, the better for the organic

search rankings.

Owners need to do a better job com-

municating, which can be done with

advanced programming, branded floor

plans, site plan design and custom

designed maps.

Some developers and property

managers forget that they are not the

target audience. So when they see a

rendering or an architectural floor plan

of the project, they understand. The

problem is customers may not. Those

communication elements need to be

directed toward the audience that will

end up leasing.

We recommend creating well-brand-

ed floor plans and site plans that offer

a clear understanding of what each

product delivers.You can create pro-

fessionally designed maps that show

where your property is in relation to

regional highlights and roads.

Blu Harbor in Redwood City, Cali-

fornia, visually showed its location

between San Francisco and Silicon

Valley as well as the growing Redwood

City lifestyle. This is something it could

not have accomplished with a cut-

and-pasted search map.

Other properties are using advanced

programming to show which unit is

where and how the entire property

lays out. Users can view everything

with a simple rollover and click.

“Our Kent Place website is a huge

sales tool for us,” said Daiva Jarasius of

Forum Real Estate. “People that haven’t

visited the property can see everything

virtually, and those who have can get

more specific with what floor plans

are in each area of the building. All

while being able to drill down to a spe-

cific unit and apply for that location

online.”

Better marketing materials do help.

When people are comparing proper-

ties and view a well-branded website,

are holding a nice print collateral piece

or see attractive signage, it makes a

difference. If you don’t take the extra

effort to communicate what makes

your location special, then why should

potential tenants care?

Sciarra

Backman

Continued from Page 18

at the Eighth and Coffman Park-n-

Ride. There is a new multimodal bus

and rail transit station planned for

First and Main streets, which will

help reduce traffic. Just south of

downtown, the Southeast Longmont

Urban Renewal Plan, intended to

improve traffic mobility and public

improvements nearby, is seeing suc-

cess with the development of the

Cheese Importers and other renewal

projects along lower Main Street.

With completion of the Terry

Street Brownstones, as well as high-

er-density residential developments

downtown such as the Roosevelt

Park Apartments a few blocks to the

north, the pulse of downtown Long-

mont has changed. In response to

this revitalization, there has been a

surge of new restaurants and busi-

nesses in downtown.

Peterson

Continued from Page 20

upgrades at multifamily properties.

Three

primary programs have had success

in engaging multifamily owners to go

green: direct install, weatherization-

assistance program and one-stop

shops.

Both weatherization-assistance

program and direct-install programs

focus on low-hanging fruit measures

(i.e., low-cost, high-saving measures)

and offer them at no to little cost.

Both weatherization-assistance pro-

gram and direct install are popular

with multifamily owners. The weath-

erization-assistance program is avail-

able for properties serving low-income

populations only while direct-install

programs from local utilities are

accessible to all multifamily proper-

ties.

However, these programs come at a

high-opportunity cost. Because they

don’t cover more extensive retrofits

such as heating and cooling systems,

appliances, windows and other shell

improvements, property owners miss

out on the larger-ticket items that typ-

ically provide greater energy savings

and health improvements but have

high payback periods.

One-stop shops bundle the direct-

install/weatherization-assistance

program solutions with other green

upgrades to provide a reasonable

payback on the bundled package.

Bundling the green upgrades with

other rehab needs allows multifamily

owners to achieve a better end result

that makes their multifamily prop-

erty more affordable, sustainable and

profitable, typically at little to no addi-

tional cost.

Malhotra

Continued from Page 22

ment team can come up with scores

of ideas on their own, but by involv-

ing the residents, the list of great

ideas will grow and the residents will

feel good about being involved.

Research what works. There are

many ways a property management

team can learn how to step up their

hospitality, and one of the best ways

is by learning from the best. In some

instances, a property management

firm might send employees to a great

hotel to study the nuances of a hos-

pitality staff. By doing this research, a

property management team can take

the experiences learned and imple-

ment them in their own apartment

community.

Successful property management

firms are finding ways to up their

game and make their apartment

communities feel like a high-end

resort. By doing so, their residents

can find a place they love to call

home, and the team will succeed as a

whole.

Sweeney

Continued from Page 24 Continued from Page 25

Victor Sanchez

As part of the Outlook Golden Ridge multifamily community, the architects incorporated a garden path

that provides connectivity to the greater neighborhood and to the pedestrian/bike bridge that leads to the

Golden light-rail station.

Kent Place-DB Marketing

Kent Place’s website allows visitors to get information about the floor plans in each area

of the building, as well as drill down to a specific unit and apply for that location online.