March 27, 2023

Welcome to People and Properties, the Cohen-Esrey newsletter where we celebrate the successes of our team members and keep you informed about what is happening in the Cohen-Esrey world. If you have something you would like to share or an achievement that you would like to celebrate, please send it to Lee Harris at lharris@cohenesrey.com. If you are on a property, please print and distribute this newsletter to each member of your property team. You can also find People and Properties on KnowledgeNet. Click here to view previous editions.

Meet Me in Memphis

In January 2020, Cohen-Esrey Apartment Investors (CEAI) acquired the Park at Forest Hill in Memphis, TN. This was CEAI’s third acquisition in the Memphis market – the other two properties have since been sold. The Park is a clone to another former property purchased and subsequently sold by CEAI – Fairways at Lincoln. Both properties were built by the same developer with The Park being constructed in two phases in 2001 and 2007. At 601-units, it is the largest property in the Cohen-Esrey portfolio. Like Fairways, The Park is situated on a golf course and residents enjoy an enormous clubhouse, children’s playground, bark park, outdoor sports court, resort-style swimming pool, fitness center and plenty of green space. Nearly $3 million was allocated for physical improvements including new kitchen appliances, brushed nickel kitchen and vanity faucet upgrades, faux granite kitchen and vanity countertops, brushed nickel kitchen and vanity lighting, ceiling fan upgrades, luxury vinyl plank flooring in kitchen, bathroom and wet areas, two-tone color changes, cabinet upgrades with white painted boxes and new doors, fronts, and brushed nickel hardware, USB outlet additions, two-inch blind upgrades, and brushed nickel entry and interior door hardware. On the exterior, siding, roofing, and windows were replaced as needed, the mail center was upgraded, a package delivery station was added, the dog park and kids park were upgraded, and attention was given to life safety items such as speed bump stair treads strategically placed throughout the property. Two gas grill stations were added by the swimming pool and a pro-style smoker station was positioned to overlook the lake. One-bedroom units are 667 square feet and rent for $943 to $1,200 per month. Two-bedroom units are 1,043 and 1,093 square feet and rent for $1,140 to $1,456 per month. Congratulations to the entire Park at Forest Hill team for delivering amazing Customer Fulfillment as evidenced by their NPS of +43.11.

Memphis is a city on the Mississippi River in southwest Tennessee, famous for the influential strains of blues, soul, and rock’n’roll that originated there. Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, Al Green, and Johnny Cash launched their careers in Memphis and several recorded albums at the legendary Sun Studio. Presley’s Graceland Mansion is a popular tourist attraction as is the famous Peabody Hotel. Other music landmarks include the Rock’n’Soul Museum, Blues Hall of Fame, and Stax Museum of American Soul Music. The metro population is 1.337 million and Memphis-style barbeque is regularly on the table of the locals. Memphis International Airport is the world’s busiest cargo airport, serving as the primary hub for FedEx shipping. Other large employers besides FedEx include International Paper, AutoZone, Cargill Cotton, Perkins Restaurant and Bakery, ServiceMaster, Varsity Brands, Gibson Guitars and many others.

Lakeisha Andrews (2020) is the Property Manager and Connie Riley (2012), Senior Deputy Managing Director, is temporarily serving as the Regional Manager. Paige Bohling (2022) is the Property Accountant, Garrett Cook (2022), is the Accounting Assistant, and Rodney Chmidling (2015) is the Accounts Payable Specialist.

We welcome the following new team members to Cohen-Esrey and the Nexus 5 Group.

Randall Richards – Elmhurst Terrace, Elmhurst, IL – Custodian
Ashlan Brunfman – Park Edge, Lenexa, KS – Leasing Agent
Aisha Robinson – Oneida Mill Lofts, Graham, NC – Assistant Property Manager
Vidal Diaz Peralta – Carlyle, Shawnee, KS – Make Ready Technician
Kasey Lynch – Perry 81, Overland Park, KS – Property Manager
Richard Dodd – Tonganoxie-Sundance, Tonganoxie, KS – Property Manager
Saray Martinez – South Pointe, Dallas, TX – Leasing Agent
Ashley Fultz – Champion at Bluegrass, Lexington, KY – Leasing Agent
Delia Cervantes – South Pointe, Dallas, TX – Property Manager

Meet the Willowpark Team

It’s with pleasure that we feature the Willowpark team in Lawton, OK. L-R – Timothy Nelson (2023), Maintenance Technician; Rena Smith (2023) Leasing Agent; Amanda Fort (2023), Property Manager, and Bryan Mahseet (2023), Lead Maintenance Technician. This 160-unit property is a new third-party management assignment for Cohen-Esrey Communities (CEC).

Nexus 5 Completes Expansion

The expansion of the MMGY offices is yet another project completed by the Nexus 5 Group at the Edison District Building in downtown Overland Park, KS. We truly value the continued relationships with Edison District and MMGY. This 6,500 square foot tenant improvement was completed in approximately 10 weeks.

This tenant improvement was a fun project that included a golf simulator as well as some unique finishes including a live wall as well as a colosseum gathering area. This project is another example of great teamwork. Working with Edison District, MMGY and Gastinger Walker Architect truly made this project easy.

MMGY Global is an integrated marketing firm focused on the needs of the travel, hospitality, and entertainment industries. Their mission is simple: help travel companies grow revenue by motivating their customers. MMGY creates progressive marketing strategies based on research and applies these insights to measurable brand and channel marketing plans. They inspire the dreamers to become doers and lead the world's travel companies to better outcomes along the way.

The Nexus 5 project team included Brian Weber (2020), Project Manager; Buel McDonald (2019), Superintendent; and Jessica Bell (2014), Project Engineer.

Get Ready for the Breakthrough!

Here we go! We’re in countdown mode for the Cohen-Esrey Annual Leadership Conference that is scheduled for April 18 – 20 at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Overland Park, KS. In less than 30-days get ready to Breakthrough to Excellence! Here’s a peek at what is in store . . .

Enjoy our opening session with the one and only Toni Blake from Totally Toni.
Learn how to take control of your finances and the ABC’s of leasing along with many more educational sessions.
A riveting fireside chat with Bob Esrey (1970), Chairman; Lee Harris (1975), President and CEO; and Ryan Huffman (2002), Chief Operating Officer.
You won’t want to miss our Community Impact event that is sure to move you on a personal level.
We celebrate YOU our team members at our glamorous Awards Ceremony.

Breakthrough to Excellence!

Cohen-Esrey Welcomes Donna Anderson

Cohen-Esrey Communities (CEC) welcomes Donna Anderson as a new market-rate Regional Manager. Donna has been in the property management industry for over 33 years, overseeing overall day-to-day operations of a minimum of a 1,200 multifamily unit portfolio. The portfolio has consisted of senior, affordable, conventional, lease-up (value-add) product, in three states. Additional skills include financial positioning of each property in the portfolio including forecasting future trends, assessing impact and implementing plans to maximize properties performance while meeting ownerships/clients objectives.

Donna attributes her knowledge and skills to her education where she earned her Associates Degree in Business Management from University of Texas at Arlington. She has also earned designations through the National Apartment Association (NAA), the National Association of Homebuilders, and Novogradac, LLC, including CAPS, CAM, HCCP, and COS through Novogradac which have helped her to navigate a successful career within the multi-family industry.

She will be based in the Dallas Texas area to oversee a growing market-rate portfolio within the the state of Texas. In Donna’s free time she enjoys volunteering for a dog rescue group, loves to crochet blankets, and attend her grandson’s basketball games.

Please join us in welcoming Donna to Cohen-Esrey!

“Ren-Ovation”

By Richard Williams (2020), Renovation Director

Weird spelling, right? Well, maybe not. Because the term “renovation” is akin to “innovation, in essence, making positive change to something established. Then applauding the accomplished performance of that change is “ovation”. With that said, the word-smithed term “Ren-Ovation” seems like an appropriate way to recognize a significant Best “B” amenity milestone.

A year ago, Cohen-Esrey took a serious look at incorporating innovations like “IoT” as a value-added interior renovation amenity. What empowers IoT tech to thrive, is “AI.”

“IoT” and “AI!?!” Come on!! More terms to remember!?! Fortunately for us, yes. “IoT” refers to the “Internet of Things” and describes physical devices (i.e., “things”). These devices are empowered by sensors, processing ability, and software as well as other technologies. IoT technologies connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other communications networks. The ability of connected technologies to simulate human intelligence, by acting on those data exchanges, is called “AI” (Artificial Intelligence). Thus, the term “Smart” is used to describe the innovative blend of IoT and AI.

With the demand for “smart” in-home technology on the rise, coupled with the property operation efficiencies IoT delivers, Cohen-Esrey exercised extensive due diligence before finally selecting SmartRent as its preferred provider. The deliverables from that decision became reality on March 3rd, with property-wide turnkey installation taking only three-weeks to complete.

Loretto at Creekside, a 320-unit CEAI property in San Antonio, TX, became Cohen-Esrey’s first fully integrated property with networked IoT. Every unit is now a “smart home.” The Property Manager is Rosalina Arce (2022), and Alyssa Garza (2022) is the Area Manager.

Each unit is equipped with a smart lock, smart thermostat, smart leak sensors and a smart hub that empowers the resident with secure device accessibility and control from anywhere. Smart locks are configured to allow access using the resident’s mobile device or the keypad. No more keys to keep up with or lose. For those traditionalists needing a key, no worries, it’s configured for that too. Each smart home is capable of other IoT add-ons like smart light switches, AI devices like Alexa and more. The turnkey installation was seamless, and residents welcomed the upgrade. SmartRent partners with property by monitoring and managing the entire customer experience from resident training to resident support and satisfaction.

Operationally, the Loretto team now uses codes versus keys for service or contractor access, streamlining vendor flow, expediting service response, and optimizing time management. The ultimate objective is increased resident satisfaction. Gone are the days of going back to the office to get keys or managing a pocket full of keys. Maintenance is now empowered to optimize response time, reduce ticket count faster and work “smarter.” Using access codes versus keys, the office staff can streamline unit walks and contractor deployment.

Here’s what one of the Loretto residents wrote in a recent e-mail:

“I am emailing you in regard to the smart rent upgrade. First and foremost, I’d like to highlight the convenience of the technology. I spend a lot of time away from home due to my job requiring frequent travel, and as a result I worry about my apartment being secure and the temperature of my apartment when inclement weather strikes. SmartRent relieved me of that stress because I am able to grant individuals access to my apartment without having to issue my only key and I’m notified if there is activity at my door. The mere fact that I don’t have to be home to control entry or physically manipulate the thermostat is very satisfying. Furthermore, I don’t believe in making multiple trips to my car to grab groceries. With SmartRent I can simply unlock the door from my car and then waddle to my apartment with 15 bags of groceries and never have to set a bag down to unlock the door.”

By partnering with the SmartRent installation team, the Loretto team personified all our Core Values in making Cohen-Esrey’s first fully integrated IoT rollout a textbook experience. For that accomplishment, Loretto at Creekside certainly deserves a standing “Ren-Ovation.” And there’s more. Park Edge in Lenexa, KS, has the forthcoming interior IoT amenity launch of this magnitude, and the Cohen-Esrey Development Group (CEDG) is planning to incorporate IoT in several properties that are being developed.

Accounting Team Celebrates Pi(e) Day

Leave it to the numbers folks to find a numerical reason to celebrate. Pi Day was March 14 (3.14) and our accounting team chose to bring in a few pi(e)s in honor of the day. We’re surprised they didn’t find a reason to celebrate Mario Day (Mar 10 – get it?)!

The Cities of Cohen-Esrey

Periodically we’ll feature a city in which Cohen-Esrey has a presence. Since our founding in 1970, we have operated in 200+ cities across the country. In 1978, we made our initial foray into the St. Louis market when we assumed management of the 840-unit Canterbury Gardens Apartments at Delmar and McKnight in University City. This was followed by the addition of what is now called Brentwood Forest (formerly Audubon Park) in 1979 – a massive, 1,385-unit apartment community just south of Clayton. A savings and loan association had purchased the property and was converting it to condominiums. Cohen-Esrey was the managing agent throughout the process with 65 team members who handled maintenance, landscaping, redecoration, and other normal activities. We have had a continuous presence in the St. Louis metro for 45 years and count 5,693 units in 38 properties on both sides of the Mississippi River. In addition, when we had a commercial portfolio, we operated 755,000 square feet of office building space in five properties plus two shopping centers totaling 500,000 square feet. For a while, we maintained a regional office in an office building at 9666 Olive which we leased and managed for the Prudential Insurance Company. Today, Cohen-Esrey Communities (CEC) remains active in St. Louis with seven assets totaling 548 units.

The St. Louis metropolitan area is home to approximately 2.8 million people and is situated near the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. It was settled in 1764 by French fur traders who named it for Louis IX of France. The city has a diverse economy with strengths in the service, manufacturing, trade, transportation and tourism industries. It is home to eight Fortune 500 companies and boasts three major research universities – Washington University, Saint Louis University, and the University of Missouri-St. Louis. St. Louis has four professional sports team including the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball, the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League, the St. Louis SC of Major League Soccer, and the St. Louis BattleHawks of the XFL. Among the city’s notable sights is the 630-foot Gateway Arch, the St. Louis Zoo, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Saint Louis Art Museum, and Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum.

Another Empowerment Story

By Nichole Larkan (2020), Leasing Agent – Astoria Park

Nichole Larkan (2020), is the Leasing Agent for Astoria Park in Amarillo, TX. Here is what she has to say about her Empowerment:

Cohen-Esrey is a company that encourages growth and inspires team members to set, achieve, and maintain goals, both as an employee and as an individual. While working for them I have realized that Cohen-Esrey is my garden where I am planted, and Astoria Park is the fertilizer feeding me and helping me grow and prosper.

I started working with Cohen-Esrey in 2020 as a Leasing Agent. I was asked to join a team of individuals who work for a company that takes care of their team members and encourages personal growth. Within the first few months I knew I was where I needed to be. I left Astoria Park for a short amount of time but returned to my home property in 2023.

I work at Astoria Park, and we have multiple cultures settling in our apartments, many of which are new to the United States and are unaware of American values. It is easy to incorporate American values with Cohen-Esrey values. I try to portray myself as a role model to residents of Astoria Park and I set an example of how adjust to American etiquette.

It is easy to be a role model when I work for a company with such fundamental, yet essential values to portray to my community. Cohen-Esrey has Empowered Me to Thrive!

The Cool Amenities of Cohen-Esrey

We continue to share photos of some of the great amenities that are offered on Cohen-Esrey properties. This includes swimming pools, clubhouses, clubrooms, car washes, tennis courts, parcel locker systems, and many other features. Many of our communities have some very unique playgrounds and we will highlight them in upcoming issues of People & Properties. Please send your photos if you haven’t already done so.

Lakes at North Port (North Port, FL)

Fire pit

Fitness center

Park Edge (Lenexa, KS)

Community garden

Indoor/outdoor pool

Grilling station

Woodson Historic Residences (Yates Center, KS)

Historic lobby

8th and Main (Independence, KS)

Community room

Clay Hall (Enid, OK)

Community room

Washington Historic Residences (Independence, KS)

Community room

Gold Dust (Fredonia, KS)

Historical artifacts in lobby

Willowpark (Lawton, OK)

Fitness Center

The Bad Guys Are Relentless!

By Mark Fletcher (2008), Chief Technology Officer

Every day the bad guys are trying to trick us. They want to us to:

Give up sensitive information.
Reveal or enter our passwords.
Clicking on links or downloading malicious attachments.
Get us to send them money, gift cards, etc.

We can’t stop the bad guys from sending scam emails, but our email system provides lots of clues to help you detect a scam. It won’t do all the work though; you must be clever and careful to detect them.

For instance, recently we received this email:

A Point to Ponder

The next time you feel like a victim; the next time you think someone else is in control, just remember this:

No one will make me successful but me.

Transformational Construction!

Construction continues at several Cohen-Esrey Development Group (CEDG) future communities.

Foundation work has continued at the Loma Vista Lofts in San Antonio, TX.

Interior work is progressing nicely at the Lofts at the Grim in Texarkana, TX

Windows are being installed at Sinclair Flats in Mankato, MN.

Rough-in plumbing work has finally begun at the Lofts at Creekview in San Antonio, TX.

NPS Leaderboards

The three NPS Leaderboards have been updated as of March 24, 2023, and there was a change at the top for two of them. In the 50-Units or Less category The Summit at Osage (Osage Beach, MO) took the lead with a score of +93.65. In the Properties 51 to 120-Units category, Orchard View (Farmington, MO) vaulted into the top spot with an NPS of +96.55. And in the Properties of More than 120-Units category, The Boulevard (Springfield, IL), continues to lead with an NPS of +92.71. There are 38 properties on Leaderboards, and for a second month there are four properties on the Leaderboards with an NPS of +90 or higher.

We continue to recognize those properties with a Maintenance Survey NPS that is equal to or exceeds our Overall NPS of +38. To qualify a property must have surveys from the equivalent of 40% of its units or more. We continue to emphasize the importance of providing improved maintenance service to deliver Customer Fulfillment. There are 21 properties this month, up from 18 the previous month.

Maintenance Ticket Surveys