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December 30, 2024
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.
It’s Morning in Sioux City, IA
The Morning Hills Apartments were constructed in Sioux City, IA, in 1978. This 96-unit affordable community is managed for a third-party partnership by Cohen-Esrey Communities (CEC). Heat, water, trash removal and sewer are included in the rent. Units have large closets, plank-style flooring, high-speed Internet access, and residents enjoy a covered picnic area and playground. One-bedroom units are 550 square feet and rent from $698 per month. Two-bedroom units are 800 square feet and rent from $809 to $1,061 per month. Three-bedroom units are 1,050 square feet and rent from $1,294 per month. Residents receive rental assistance and pay rent based upon their income.
Sioux City is nestled between Sioux Falls, SD and Omaha, NE along Interstate 29. It’s about an hour-and-a-half drive to each big city. This sprawling community sits along the Missouri River and is home to an array of museums, college campuses, shopping malls, golf courses, and neighborhood parks. Residents enjoy visiting Southern Hills Mall for retailers and restaurants. Bacon Creek Park features a lake for fishing, nature trails, a playground, and a dog park. Sioux City is home to Morningside College, Sergeant Floyd River Museum, Sioux City Public Museum, and the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. Sioux City provides residents with everything they’d need from big-city living, but is surrounded by beautiful pastures and rural areas.
Jennifer Jefferies (2024) is the Property Manager and Komari Welch (2024), is the Regional Manager. Michael Gioia (2020) is the Senior Property Accountant and Nancy Lewis (2021) is the Accounting Assistant.
We welcome the following new team members to Cohen-Esrey and the Nexus 5 Group.
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Sarah Dicken – Idlewild Estates, Poplar Bluff, MO – Property Manager
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Melissa Grubbs – Champion at Bluegrass, Lexington, KY – Assistant Property Manager
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Melissa Marshall – Panorama Heights, Colorado Springs, CO – Property Manager
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Kashana Wigley – Sinclair Flats – Mankato, MN – Leasing Agent
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Damarius Philip – Tiger Island Senior, Morgan City, LA – Maintenance Technician
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Sommer Estay – Tiger Island Senior, Morgan City, LA – Property Manager
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Cody Acola – Walnut Street Flats, Reedsburg, WI – Custodian
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David Catlett – Corporate-Remote – Director of Compliance
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Brittney Herd – Tower Village – St. Louis, MO – Property Manager
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Michael Archie, Sr. – Pecan Ridge, Texarkana, TX – Make-Ready Technician
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Sophia Mcmillion – Park at Forest Hill – Memphis, TN – Leasing Agent
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Jalen Havel – Corporate Office – Property Accounting Assistant
Meet the Robison Terrace Team
Meet the Robison Terrace team. (L to R – Back) Ashley Barton (2024), Property Manager; Kimberly Stinard (2024), Leasing Agent; Front – Keshaun Bradley (2024), Make Ready Technician; and Kenny Weston (2024), Maintenance Technician.
Cohen-Esrey Communities (CEC) manages the 130-unit Robison Terrace, an affordable community in Texarkana, TX, for a third-party client.
Transformational Construction
Construction continues at Cohen-Esrey Development Group (CEDG) future communities.
Panorama Heights with it’s rooftop solar array, is an imposing structure in Colorado Springs, CO.
Construction at The Launchpad is entering the home stretch in Colorado Springs, CO.
Residents will be moving in during January 2025, at the Loma Vista Lofts in San Antonio, TX.
Framing is expected to start in mid-January 2025, at the Lofts at Creekview in San Antonio, TX.
Kitchen cabinets are being installed at the Lewis Lofts in Mankato, MN.
New footer for the clubhouse at Village Park in Amarillo, TX.
The clubhouse sprung up overnight at the Heritage at Cottonwood Creek in San Marcos, TX.
Major trenching continues for the CIP wall as well as waterline boring at Overlook 157 in Asheville, NC.
Cohen-Esrey Welcomes Dave Catlett
Cassie Colston (2004), Regional Vice-President, who oversees the Affordable Housing Compliance Department, has announced that David Catlett has been hired as the Director of Compliance.
David earned an associate’s degree in business administration and management from Southern Arkansas University Tech. He began his career in the apartment industry in 2011 as a Property Manager responsible for five different apartment communities in the Hot Springs, AR market. Thereafter he was Vice-President of Operations and Compliance for nearly eight years at a property management company in Little Rock, AR. Since 2021, he has specialized in affordable housing compliance where he was a Compliance Manager/Section 504 Coordinator, and a Vice-President of Compliance. David holds a wide range of certifications including Housing Compliance Manager-HUD, Rural Development, EIV, and Tax Credit; Management Occupancy Review Specialist; Housing Credit Compliance Professional (HCCP); Certified Occupancy Specialist (COS), and more.
In his role as Compliance Manager for Cohen-Esrey, David’s Roles and Accountabilities will include but are not limited to:
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Coordinating team member and compliance team training for new and existing periodic state compliance.
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Monitoring all annual recertification reporting and deadline dates.
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Monitoring and ensuring HOTMA compliance.
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Monitoring and ensuring properties have all necessary documents for MORS, state inspections, third party inspections.
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Monitoring and reviewing Agency Tracker completion.
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Monitoring property level compliance operations to determine deployment of Operations Support Specialist.
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Monitoring State Management Reporting Systems.
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Monitoring that all relevant documents have been transferred to the appropriate CE drive(s).
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Participating in any legal proceedings and conferences.
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Reviewing and monitoring all compliance manuals and documents for newly onboarded states.
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Reviewing LURA before deployment.
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Reviewing monthly state regulations in comparison to all lease addendum, state exhibits, affidavits, and application documents.
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Reviewing state regulations and ensuring compliance and updating changes within OASYS and other compliance documents.
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Reviewing TSP, qualifications, income limits, rent schedule, UA’s, policies and procedures, and AFHMP before deployment.
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Serving as the 504 coordinator.
Welcome to Cohen-Esrey, David!
Save the Date
The Cohen-Esrey Annual Leadership Conference will be held at the Overland Park, KS Doubletree Hotel again in 2025. Property Managers, Regional Managers, and Operations Support Managers will be invited. Save the date:
April 15 – 17, 2025
“RenOvations:” Applauding Results
By Richard Williams (2020), Renovation Director, Cohen-Esrey Apartment Investors
Empowering People to Thrive takes center-stage in Cohen-Esrey’s Commitment to deliver successful outcomes for our investors, residents, team members and the communities we impact. Market-rate properties, with active renovation initiatives, play key roles in that success story. It’s the Commitment of our team that brings our business-critical “Best B” strategy to life. Considering their Olympic-level performance during the fourth quarter of 2024, this article recognizes property standouts that continue to model rent lift, units renovated, and cost per unit (i.e. CPU) goal achievement.
I asked Laureen Woods (2022), Property Manager at Brighton Creek what Empowered her team to Thrive. Here is what she had to say:
“We had many things to learn which included adjusting the team’s workflow when it came to ordering materials and scheduling 60 days in advance. Having all the supplies on hand is the BEST way to stay on top of renovations and avoid/minimize delays. It’s also critical for the team to take proactive steps in communicating with the Property Manager when the renovation supply inventory is low.
This most important feedback from Brighton Creek’s service team was how fortunate we were in being able to perform Notice to Vacate (NTV) walkthroughs. Doing so gave us an opportunity to assess our product, develop a specific supply plan, efficiently order for the individual needs of each unit and ensure that each future home meets “Best B” standards. NTV walkthroughs enabled us to forecast and prepare for the time it takes to complete a renovation as well as schedule the necessary vendor deliveries and contractor support as needed. In addition, the Make Ready Board makes it so easy to schedule every aspect of renovation workflow, ensuring the successful outcomes that ultimately lead to Customer and Team Member Fulfillment.”
Ten of our “Long Timers”
There are many long-tenured members of the Cohen-Esrey team. Listed below are ten team members who have been with the company the longest. Check out the photo of a very young Bob Esrey from an early 1970s company brochure.
Whoa! Those Are Some Ugly Sweaters!
Thanks to Emily Fletcher (2022), Property Accounting Assistant – Supervisor, and the Fun Team for sponsoring an Ugly Sweater Contest. Here are the results along with photos of the participants.
Property Team Member winners are:
1st – Vanessa Garcia Rodriguez (2024), Leasing Agent, Perry 81
2nd – Monny Starr (2024), Assistant Property Manager, Perry 81
3rd – Vantasia Camper (2024), Leasing Agent, Holiday Apartments
Corporate Team Member winners are:
1st – Morgan Gassert (2022), Marketing and Ad Specialist
2nd – Gina Long (2022), Human Resources Business Partner
3rd – Emily Fletcher (2022), Property Accounting Assistant – Supervisor
Why We Do What We Do . . .
We continue to feature stories about why members of our team do what they do. In this issue, Todd Sears (2023), Vice-President of Development for the Cohen-Esrey Development Group (CEDG), shares his inspirational thoughts.
“My introduction to affordable housing was in Chicago through a LIHTC deal our church built during the first few years of the LIHTC program (late 1980s/early 1990s). And one of my first jobs was working for a bank in suburban Chicago that was active in neighborhood/community lending, so I gained a lot of exposure to unsubsidized, workforce housing. Then, in the mid-1990s, I was assigned to evaluate three properties Sam Zell purchased in Tennessee that had very odd/high cash flows – Zell used tax-exempt bonds without tax credits, so the debt service was low, and the properties had income restrictions but no rent restrictions – and I began to put the pieces together; affordable and workforce housing were places I could combine my finance background with social impact. I occasionally forget about that time 30+ years ago amid KNET Tasks, weekly check-in meetings, and expense reports, but my passion for our work today is just as strong now as it was then.”
An Empowerment Story
By Erin Hamel (2023), Property Manager – Pam Apartments
Erin Hamel, (2024), is the Property Manager for the Pam Apartments in Pampa, TX. Here is what she has to say about her Empowerment:
“There is no doubt this past year has been extremely challenging for me. However, these challenges taught me so much about who I am as a leader and a person. Cohen-Esrey has given me the opportunity to learn my position and do my tasks to the best of my ability. The resources this company provides are what has led me to be as successful as I am with my property. I have worked for companies before where you felt like you were alone on an island and whenever you did reach out and ask questions there was never a response, you know like in the movies when all you hear are crickets? Yes, same thing. Cohen-Esrey has ensured that I have always been given the proper tools, resources, and people to help you in any given situation.
Never be afraid to ask a question. My Regional Manager, Jayme Dannen-Deal (2024), has continued to push me out of my comfort zone to learn and do more things within my role as a Property Manager. She has been such a great mentor and leader. I have often told her ‘I want to be you when I grow up’ hahaha. I have enjoyed being able to go to other properties and assist them in any way that I can. I try to Empower others in whatever position they hold at those properties so they can be successful. I look forward to being a part of Cohen-Esrey for many years to come and I cannot wait to see what 2025 has in store for not just myself but all my teammates as well.”
Fun Photo!
A photo of John Hinman (2011), Nexus 5 Managing Director, at the 2014 company picnic.
NPS Leaderboards
The three NPS Leaderboards have been updated as of December 26, 2024, and the leaders remain the same from November. In the 50-Units or Less category Rankin Mills (Boonville, MO) is in the lead with a score of +86.05. In the Properties 51 to 120-Units category, Justin Place (Kansas City, MO) is in first place with an NPS of +73.33. And in the Properties of More than 120-Units category, The Boulevard (Springfield, IL), closed the month with a lock on first place with an NPS of +96.00. There are 20 properties on Leaderboards – two less than last month.
