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Page 14 — Multifamily Properties Quarterly — February 2017
Multifamily property management that puts
your building on a more profitable track.
Like the railroad platform that spins train cars in a new direction,
Wheelhouse Apartments™ repositions your property for increased
cash flow and building value.
Property Management
Leasing & Maintenance
Accounting
Construction Management
Asset Management
Marketing & Branding
Strategic Planning
Wheelhouse Apartments is central Denver’s premier apartment property
management company, helping apartment owners maximize income and
property values through expert property management, innovative marketing
and branding, cost-effective renovations and asset management.
UNIQUE
PROPERTIES
Unique Apartment Group
COLORADO’S PREMIER APARTMENT BROKERS
In partnership with: Call us for a free initial
consultation: 303.518.7406
Part of the Wheelhouse family of companies: Boutique Apartments • Wheelhouse Apartments • Wheelhouse Commercial Management • Wheelhouse Construction
Wheelhouse Apartments • 90 Madison Street, Suite 500 • Denver, Colorado 80206
Sustainability
Among the many tenets of
property management, utility
consumption is paramount to
affordability and profitability,
with water being an increased
area of focus. In the last 10 years,
Colorado’s popularity and continu-
ing growth has lead to substantial
increases in populations around the
state and especially the Front Range.
After the housing crash, many of
these new citizens are choosing
apartments, and the market has
shown considerable transactions and
repositioning as ownerships change
and investors seek to maximize rent
and attract these new potential ten-
ants.
At the same time, a continuing
drought since the year 2000 has
placed new demands on water utili-
ties to modify and maximize exist-
ing supply systems while developing
new sources. In fact, serious regional
droughts required many Colorado
water providers to implement water-
use restrictions in the early 2000s
and again in 2013.
Climate variations are modifying
traditional business models, impos-
ing new operational challenges.
Many utilities have raised rates to
meet these needs and serve these
new customers, placing price pres-
sure on all customers. On a broader
scope and perhaps a benefit of this
serious drought across the West is a
raised awareness of water scarcity
and use, with an emphasis of more
care and conservation as a compo-
nent of effective water management.
In effect, we’re paying more atten-
tion. Solutions abound to continue
our high quality
of life while using
energy and water
more efficiently
and, often, a little
differently than in
the past. People are
noticing, and peo-
ple care.
Industry has
responded with col-
laboration among
manufacturers,
utilities, govern-
ment and suppliers
to provide high-
performing, water-saving and afford-
able new fixtures and water-use
methods.
The Environmental Protection
Agency’s WaterSense program
launched in 2006 to overcome stub-
born stigmas about water-savings
fixtures and created standards and
methodologies for new products
to perform their tasks successfully
while using 20 percent or less water
than existing models’ regulations.
Through collaborative, open develop-
ment and clever innovations, multi-
ple new technologies and companies
produced and offer WaterSense-
approved fixtures and devices, which
require no sacrifice by the user,
owner, installer or management.
In the last 10 years, WaterSense
has overseen the advent of new toi-
lets, showerheads, faucets, urinals,
irrigation controllers, new home
certifications and even industry rec-
ognition for landscaping profession-
als. This evolution of water-efficient
devices has been well accepted by
the retail segment, commercial sup-
pliers, plumbers, and residential and
business customers alike – culminat-
ing in over 1 trillion gallons of water
saved in that time. WaterSense is an
excellent example of win-win col-
laboration and has gained the confi-
dence of stakeholders.
Following suit, a Colorado bipar-
tisan state bill ushered in the slow
removal of less-efficient indoor
bathroom fixtures. Plumbers, suppli-
ers, utilities and manufactures were
all supportive.
As of 2017, only WaterSense-
approved fixtures are to be sold in
Colorado. This bill follows actions
taken by Texas, Georgia and Califor-
nia. It’s considered a very low-cost
and simple way to add water effi-
ciency to the state while keeping
more water available for crops, rivers
and other shared uses.
In the multifamily sector, water
conservation has become a focus
area for management and capital
investment. While obvious opera-
tions expenses, such as water costs
and maintenance issues for aging
fixtures, drive some of the focus,
additional new factors, such as cor-
porate social responsibility and sus-
tainability initiatives, also support
better care of water use.
While some firms are driven strict-
ly by improved return-on-invest-
ment scenarios from direct water
and labor costs, others recognize
the significant marketing value in
responsibly doing their part to con-
serve a very scarce resource, while
also keeping shared utility costs
manageable. These attributes can be
important to first-time renters, such
as millennials, or environmentally
conscious demographics. They also
demonstrate tangible examples to
match new social engagement strat-
egies to create greener communities
and enhance tenant participation
and connectivity.
In addition, water-efficiency
investments can keep water costs
to an appropriate ratio of overall
expenses, allowing room for rate
increases or distribution necessities.
Finally, upgrading to WaterSense fix-
tures can help with affordability and
compliance of low-income housing
programs and overcome the water
portion of shared use conservation
behavior dilemma of ratio-utility-
billing-system managed properties,
according to Cohn Reznick’s “The
Low-Income Housing Tax Credit
Program at Year 30: An Operating
Expense Analysis.”
As manufacturers have expanded
models and features and transi-
tioned factories to mainly produce
WaterSense-approved products, unit
costs for most of these items are
very competitive. From some major
suppliers, WaterSense toilets can
be in the range of $75. Historically,
many owners kept existing toilets,
unless they were failing or other
prevailing conditions required
replacement. Now many owners and
managers perform change outs at
turns, remodels, during rehabilita-
tion or as a one-off, whole property
upgrade project, often with in-house
labor or through contract plumbing
Frank Kinder
Senior conservation
specialist, Colorado
Springs Utilities,
Colorado Springs