It allows us to be so much smarter when we're underwriting new opportunities which, at the end of the day, works for the benefit of our investors. 1 Week Ago. But one of the things that you did Steven, is you brought on amazing talent in Ned and in David and others to really create this capital formation function inside of Cortland. As you know, Willy, we started a brand for 55 plus which we call the Tiva a number of years ago. At Cortland, you'll feel empowered to define your career path, take on new challenges, and make a difference. So that definitely has paid dividends, the real value on the brand more than anything else is the passion that it creates amongst the human capital. *In Canada, trademark(s) of the International Association of Better Business Bureaus, used under License. Whether it was marketing or sales or pest control or landscaping all these services you could buy on a per unit basis, but at the end of the day it was really efficient from an execution standpoint, but it was really inefficient from a customer service standpoint, because now effectively, you were handing over that relationship with your customers to this whole cadre of third-party vendors, which inevitably, as you can imagine, just lead to really poor service and poor execution. However, BBB does not verify the accuracy of information provided by third parties, and does not guarantee the accuracy of any information in Business Profiles. One of the things we knew early on, if we were going to be best in class at creating a living experience and customer delight, what we had to do first was make this a best place to work. Allen, TX 75013-5259. Historically in our business, groups would generally try to outsource as much of the business as possible. Steven DeFrancis: Well, obviously there is an enormous amount of capital looking to get into multifamily which is driving down the CAP rate environment. Because all of us can sit there and say airlines want to make the flying experience better but guess what they have a really tough time making the economics work to make the flying experience for all of us that much better, and so they don't make it materially better. Therere expectations from our consumer and our customers that are more and more unique, so we need more specialized human capital. Need to find a different location? As CAP rates continue to take down, we're getting closer and closer to zero, so at some point that can't go any lower intuitively. Steven explains Cortlands decision to invest in research into where the market was going as the recession continued, and about the companys pivot in terms of clientele and customer focus. Resident Questions So, we felt that it was going to be important, really that we control all of those touch points with the customer. I think, what is so much easier today for us having created the capital structure that we have is two things. Atlanta, GA 30326-2818. Say yes to a career you love. Cortland Legacy is a short distance from incredible shopping, dynamic entertainment and several outstanding sporting venues. And we put almost no focus on the team that actually keeps our existing customers there, which is you know in business is the exact opposite way to maximize your bottom line. Contact Us Address Cortland Properties, Inc. 7612 W. North Avenue Elmwood Park, IL 60707 Phone Phone: (708) 452-4242 Fax: (708) 452-4122 . We did it because that was the capital that was available. Willy Walker: And anything on the downside, as it relates to anything from the small company touch and feel that you miss or anything that sort of says man, I wish I could go back to doing that, but my job today just didn't, allow me to do it? So, we decided let's do this research and figure out where the markets going and that our significantly downsize point at that time, how might Cortland participate in whatever this recovery might look like? When you go stay at a Marriott versus a Hyatt or whatever else. 2714-20 N. Mildred. Key Principal: Ashley Gordon See more contacts Industry: Apartment building operators. With our pioneering business model, our enterprising team, and our commitment to placing the resident at the center of our decisions, we're aiming to set a new experience standard for the apartment industry one community at a time. Find the Cortland Dallas address. Cortland Design is our in-house, award-winning interior design and architecture firm. 2801 W. Logan. They execute Cortlands value-add and new build construction, in addition to offering their expertise beyond Cortland. Don't get too excited about AUM, it's more important that we're delivering that service every day, and obviously I know it takes both but Im trying to get at a little bit of what's the focus? Customer Reviews are not used in the calculation of BBB Rating. Over time, Cortland transitioned to having direct relationships with manufacturers in China; these relationships help Cortland to navigate any supply chain issues that may arise, including those that have arisen from the COVID-19 pandemic. BBB Business Profiles are provided solely to assist you in exercising your own best judgment. View jobs Senior Lifestyle Corporation Careers and Employment Work happiness Scores based on about 385 responses to Indeed's survey on work happiness About work happiness 55 Work Happiness Score 2849 N. Orchard . 2404-14 W. Cortland. BBB asks third parties who publish complaints, reviews and/or responses on this website to affirm that the information provided is accurate. I have witnesses to confirm these actions. As the conversation gets underway, Willy looks back to the founding of Cortland as a small development firm focused locally on Atlanta, noting that the company shifted its approach during the financial crisis of the 2000s. 4:42 - What led Cortland to shift? All these different things that you have to line up when you have no control over your capital. It also allows us to systemize or centralize within a given market; things like maintenance and purchasing etc. Steven DeFrancis: At this time, we haven't thought about expanding beyond housing. To your point you made systemizing appliances and plumbing fixtures and all these things so you get as much customization as possible, which makes nothing will make the service teams job easier is when things don't break. Cortland Corporate Headquarters and Office Locations. In a market like Dallas or Atlanta or any of the markets were in, we don't need to be top one or five, but we'd like to have line of site to 4000 or 5000 plus units because it allows us to first, invest in better top notch human capital, because we have the scale to support it. Looking for furniture for your home office? Laramar is a national property management company offering apartments for rent nationwide. 1-3 Br $1,434-$2,504 0.2 mi. So, we just said okay, well we've done a lot of other things ourselves, we'll figure this one out too. Our ability in markets where we have 20 or 30 assets in a given market, the way SEO and search works just having everything branded with a similar name really helps drive search straight to our website and straight to our product, our locations. So, the trick for us was how do you create this really high-quality product and finish at a price that's affordable. If you choose to do business with this business, please let the business know that you contacted BBB for a BBB Business Profile. Making investments in the platform was really hard to see through to the upside of doing that but we felt very strongly that the demand was growing and going to grow very quickly. But Cortland really focused on that. Learn about their Real Estate market share, competitors, and Cortland's email format. But to your point about how we're going to grow, Im a big believer in taking a step back. You have pretty major stuff going on where systemization is key to execution, and if you mess up any of those things it just goes sideways. Cortland Partners currently operates in Southeastern U.S. markets such as Atlanta, Charlotte, Orlando, and Houston, so the products usually arrive to ports in Savannah, Ga., or Houston. Willy Walker: You talked about brand and the customer experience. 22:17 - Steven comments on Cortlands approach to brand and recruitment. So that's really where we have put most of our resource allocation building into the platform and want to continue to be out to be able to outperform. Overview. . A spokesperson for. So, talking about engaging interaction discussions it's a true pleasure for me to have my friend and amazing CEO Steven DeFrancis joining us today. You can live in an apartment, or you can live at Cortland. So, clay and a wonderful gentleman on his team named Walter Hudson got on a plane and flew to China to find our missing cabinets and counters at the time. As you know, Willy, from your business you've done a great job with this. But to your point about all the stuff we've underwritten, what we decided a number of years ago was to invest in a bigger team so we could put an investment team in each of the markets that we're in, so we weren't trying to do all this acquisition from a central location where we really didn't have the local market knowledge that we would like to have. As a top 50 apartment owner and operator, Cortland has a brand and reputation of success and customer service. Back when we got started really doing this heavy value add, no investor wanted to do it. The vision also prompted a focus on brand. So, as long as Im here, thats where the focus on the operations. The training that you've given them is sort of applicable across the Cortland platform. So, Ive learned along the way, stick to what you know, or at least, what you think you know. That allows us to underwrite a huge volume of potential opportunities, it's really inefficient. What was it that you either saw as a macro market opportunity or something that you saw inside of Cortland that made you shift strategy? We all had one agenda. I personally would not live there. Cortland Westshore 6207 S West Shore Blvd, Tampa, FL 33616 Visit Cortland Westshore website Apartment floorplans Aft $1,863 - $1,975 Studio | 1 ba | 593 sqft 2 units - Available now Angler $2,025 - $2,100 1 bd | 1 ba | 672 sqft 3 units - Available Mar 14 2023 Beam $2,105 - $2,160 1 bd | 1 ba | 726 sqft 3 units - Available now Beacon $2,110 - $2,335 See All 79 interviews. 51:39 - Will Cortlands main focus going forward be service or capital? So, Steven first of all welcome and thank you for joining me. Then the second piece is once they get in you've created a culture at Cortland that is very unique. I think if we're really going to outperform in the new environment of multifamily going forward, that's the part where you got to be best. Cabinets, counters, tile, light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, flooring rob hooks, doorknobs, peep holes, you name it. So, it's really two pieces; it's maintaining that ability to be the best to your customer, but also the ability to create the infrastructure to process a lot of throughput, and whether it's development or acquisitions or value add renovations, the whole process of creating product before you then manage and operate the product. Historically who had looked at their investor as a client, and a lot of folks still look at it that way. I can thank Bruce Cohen for the time he spent advising us, putting that team together. So, it was a combination of having product on hand, rushing product into manufacturer soon as the plants reopened in Asia. And as I look at Cortland now a decade after you really started hitting this growth trajectory, for all of the incredible brand youve built, customer experience you've built, vertically integrated sourcing youve built, and the actual App rehab process, you've also created a capital formation machine that is, there are parallels to it like a Blackstone. Thank you for such a fantastic and thorough review of our community! But thankfully there's so much opportunity, as you know, within multifamily in the markets we're in. Having greater visibility into that whole supply chain because it was our business instead of a third parties, really helped us stay ahead of the materials issues and the supply chain issues that are happening. My controlling now the design of the materials, were talking everything inside the drywall in a unit. Addison, TX. Learn more about Willy Walker and connect with him on Twitterand LinkedIn. Cortland South Mountain 7017 S Priest Dr, Tempe, AZ 85283 Visit Cortland South Mountain website ( 1) Special offer! We are the dreamers, designers, and doers behind our living spaces and experiences, from the way we make our residents smile to the features we design and place in our homes. The result of under development of multifamily in the Sunbelt markets in the early part of the 2000s because of the heavy focus at the time on homeownership followed by a pretty long and protracted downturn where nothing was being developed in those markets. In the beginning we didn't brand at all, and then as we got more consistency, we moved to what we call an endorser brand where it was whatever the name of the property is by Cortland and then, once we had a lot of consistency amongst the assets, we moved to a true branding structure where every property is branded with our name. A lot of effort on the front end around considering talent before bringing them in and then a lot of focus on supporting our talent once they're here. Learn more about Cortland. We recently, by example rolled out a concept we call the Leasing Hub, which is instead of having leasing agents in every property who are fielding calls, inquiries from new customers, we centralize those folks. And like a lot of things that worked great until it didn't. And so, we researched really all things related to multifamily whether it was you know supply and demand in the markets that we were in at the time, the demographics market wise and nationally as it related to propensity to rent? Tue: 9am - 5pm. Steven DeFrancis: Well first, it's not about being top five or top 10, it's really about having the right asset base to operate with a scaled organization. As a leader in the multifamily industry, we create resident-centric, hospitality-driven living spaces and experiences across the US. What's your view on the overall market right now as it relates to sort of supply and demand and where pricing is and the ability to continue to get the returns that Cortland has been so successful at producing? Im assuming you had to get market returns for your LPs, but your GP return dragged as you were investing in the business. 35:11 - Willy asks about the move to being vertically integrated. We're a company comprised of people who thoughtfully challenge the status quo of the conventional multifamily industry in pursuit of a resident-centric approach to apartment living. It was all these things moving around in the market or cross current in the market that we felt might have an impact on the multifamily industry. It's less about buying them or renovating them, building them from that standpoint is really on the operation side. 1160 Johnson Ferry Rd NE. So, it barely moved the needle to go from really low grade to really high grade. Cortland sets a new standard for better apartment living in Europe. Get a D&B Hoovers Free Trial. By controlling that process, you now could control the quality of the product, and the difference in a really high-quality fixture versus the lowest builder grade stuff we were used to seeing it was literally single percent cost difference because you spent so much of the landed cost in the US went to logistics and shipping the amount of cost that went into the actual product is really pretty small. 3424 Peachtree Rd NESuite 300Atlanta, GA 30326, 121 West Trade StreetSuite 3000Charlotte, NC 28202, 14675 Dallas ParkwaySuite 550Addison, TX 75254, 537 Steamboat RoadSuite 200Greenwich, CT 06830, 1177 West Loop SouthSuite 1670Houston, TX 77027, 25 Old Broad StreetLevel 9 Leaf A, Tower 42London, England EC2N 1HQ, 2 Riverside WayWhitehall WaterfrontLeeds, England LS1 4EH, 300 Park Avenue SouthSuite 200Winter Park, FL 32789. What we've learned is, the value you get out of being scaled in a market, you can't beat it in any other way, centralized services, etc. Featured Communities Florida AXIS Delray Beach Florida Bainbridge at Westshore Marina Florida On the latest Walker Webcast, CEO Steven DeFrancis joined us to discuss his strategic approach to systemization, his focus on building a stellar team, and his approach to growth. What you just talked through Steven was how you had this longer-term focus and continued to plow money back into creating the team and insourcing a lot of those activities that you could have bought from third party vendors at a much cheaper cost to the GP but at the same time, you had this long-term vision of creating the Cortland that you've actually created. This office is the major Cortland Dallas, TX area location. But a lot of people at that time may have seen the demographic shifts coming, thought that the demographics behind multifamily were really strong, but didn't take the component parts that you just talked about as it relates to a focus on the customer experience. You have to set up the infrastructure and the culture of being an associate first organization if you're ever going to be best in class in customer service or customer experience. Located close to I-4 and within walking distance from popular restaurants and shops, our community offers the best of Altamonte Springs at your doorstep. This was not the same type of profile we are working on today and, as you can imagine if you were an interior design professional getting the Cortland project to renovate a property that they had just paid $10,000 a unit to buy and we're going to spend $15,000 a year it wasn't the high glamour project. Now I do try to get out as much as I can and meet all the folks across the system, but I do miss the that small family feel where you got to know everybody and that was a big part of the excitement of coming to work every day. BBB Business Profiles may not be reproduced for sales or promotional purposes. Cortland is a product-to-people, multifamily real estate investment, development, and management company that in-sources most of its multifamily development, design, construction, renovation, management, and ownership functions - all with the goal of providing residents excellent, hospitality-driven living experiences. It doesn't mean the right personality profile to work here or not work here, more typically it's the person that's going to be an interior design probably has a different set of personality profile than the person who's going to be an accountant in reporting. They're better in the teens, they're really, really good when they hit single digit returns, because the alpha we're creating is somewhat consistent regardless. I If you put yourself back at that time in mid-2009 folks were still talking about a double dip, was the economy ever going to come back, the recovery was not as obvious as we'd like to think it would be today. Through local inspiration and research, this team strategically composes resident-centric communities and intentionally creates spaces for an elevated experience. When we were starved for capital and so making investments in real estate made a lot of sense. Website Take me there. Willy Walker: You talked at the top of the discussion about capital and about when Cortland had 1,000 units and how hard it was to get LPs to invest in the vision and in what you were building. 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