While discussions, like the one I had last week with Matt Kelly of JBG Smith and with Steven today are primarily focused on the commercial real estate industry; the discussion with Kerr on culture and leadership is applicable across industries and contain lots of life lessons. 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. Talk about the move to vertically integrate and going and making partnerships with the OEMs over in China that allowed you to standardize product and cut your costs dramatically. Well guide you through the process. So much of it is about putting people in the right seat on the bus. BBB is here to help. Willy Walker: You talk about the people at Cortland, and Im privileged to know a lot of them, and Ive been to Mercedes Benz field to watch your team compete in a karaoke band competition, and that was actually quite something to watch. 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. During the economic downturn in 2008, we decided to shift our focus from developing communities to acquiring and renovating existing multifamily communities all with a vision to challenge the conventions of the traditional multifamily industry through better living spaces and experiences. What did Steven and his colleagues see, Willy wonders, that led to the shift? They execute Cortlands value-add and new build construction, in addition to offering their expertise beyond Cortland. Faqs. Website. But to your point about how we're going to grow, Im a big believer in taking a step back. He is a member of the Buckhead Coalition and serves on the board of the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership. 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. 2404-14 W. Cortland. Cortland has processes in place to provide a high level of standardization across its business; this allows, for instance, residents to count on a certain standard of fit and finish across properties, and property managers to easily transfer between locations. Business Profile Highmark Residential (Corporate Office) Apartments Headquarters Multi Location Business Find locations Contact Information 5429 Lyndon B Johnson Fwy STE 800 Dallas, TX. Work really well for a few jobs and then all of a sudden, the stuff was delivering more and more slowly and then that guy disappeared. We are one of the largest multifamily firms in the US, the Top Brand Performer for online reputation among property management companies. . 1-3 Br $1,434-$2,504 0.2 mi. Cortland contact info: Phone number: (404) 965-3988 Website: www.cortland.com What does Cortland do? Allen, TX 75013-5259. 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. But thankfully there's so much opportunity, as you know, within multifamily in the markets we're in. 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. We talked a lot about how we're going to make mistakes and that's okay, just try not to make them more than two or three times each. It's less about buying them or renovating them, building them from that standpoint is really on the operation side. Cortland is the largest owner operator in Atlanta and Dallas as well as all of the State of Texas. Loading. Choose the option that best fits your needs below and then let us know how we can help. There are plenty of people in the multifamily industry who say brands make a difference in hospitality. We're here to help our residents, clients, and communities across the globe. 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. Cortland County is a great place to live. We did it because that was the capital that was available. About Us. Neither one had ever been there, had no idea what they're getting into but we're going to go figure this out. Get to know the Cortland businesses that build, design, and deliver the spaces we create. About Cortland Uptown Altamonte. Overview. More > Healthcare & Supportive Services Anyway, two things came out of that; one was just the sheer volume of under supply that we were going to be met with when the economy recovered or began to recover. Cortland Engaged Employer Overview 569 Reviews 120 Jobs 913 Salaries 80 Interviews 179 Benefits 91 Photos 164 Diversity + Add a Review Updated Feb 23, 2023 Find Reviews Clear All English Filter Found 548 of over 569 reviews Sort Popular Popular COVID-19 Related Highest Rating Lowest Rating Most Recent Oldest First 3.7 68 % Senior Lifestyle Corporation 55 2.8 Write a review Snapshot Why Join Us 558 Reviews 143 Jobs 1.4K Salaries 104 Q&A Interviews 14 Photos Want to work here? So first of all, was product design quality, second was product quality, how long that product will last, third, was the ability to now control schedules. Through our integrated business model, our enterprising team, and our commitment to placing the resident at the center of our decisions, were aiming to set a new experience standard for the apartment industry one community at a time. Copyright 2017-2020 Walker & Dunlop, Inc. Since then, weve become a global, integrated multifamily investment, development, and management firm focused on delivering resident-centric, hospitality-driven apartment living experiences. Cortland Build is a global, concept-to-completion construction delivery firm specializing in multifamily new build, commercial construction (amenities), and renovation. Office (0) Den (0) Yard (6) Clubhouse (32) Business Center (32) Controlled Access (32) Playground (0) BBB asks third parties who publish complaints, reviews and/or responses on this website to affirm that the information provided is accurate. Additionally the **** system outside her window (was not disclosed to her the **** noise at time move in) disrupts sleep. Steven DeFrancis: Yes, it's been extremely helpful, and, in fact, since the pandemic, started March last year, we have delivered about 7,500 units to date. A lot of the things we talked about today and the differences between us and maybe some of our competitors is, we really look at the business as a consumer facing operating business that happens to need capital as opposed to a capital business that happens to somewhere down the hall have some property operations. 35:11 - Willy asks about the move to being vertically integrated. That team actually started whenNed joined us a number of years ago, but then as we really wanted to grow in the fund business, we talked to a number of groups, number of placement agents and really how we ended up building an internal team is all the placement agents we talked to were in complete agreement that there was no need for another multifamily manager. 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? That team, by the way, is now about 40 people and we're still always struggling to stay current to keep up. But we also knew those better returns we had to give up in the early days and pay more for the capital, most of the investors thought what we're doing in the early part of the cycle didn't make a lot of sense. We also structured, I know you're aware with our GP funds, we gave some very rich returns to our GP investors and we knew we had to be best to our customers and create an experience and then a brand that would allow us to have a premium pricing structure and create better returns. Our Services Affordable Senior Housing From apartments designed for independent living, to housing for seniors transitioning out of nursing homes, to cottages for the memory-impaired and their caregivers, our housing enables seniors to live, and age, where they choose. | Cortland is a product-to-people . 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. Cabinets, counters, tile, light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, flooring rob hooks, doorknobs, peep holes, you name it. We are Bainbridge We manage, develop, and invest in apartment communities that are complete experiences, where people are free to pursue better lives. Cortland is the largest owner and operator in the cities of Atlanta and Dallas, as well as in the entire state of Texas. In this episode of Driven by Insight, Willy . So, Steven first of all welcome and thank you for joining me. Brand and associated SEO realities in the market today drive traffic, and they tie into the customer-centrism of the business. As a top 50 apartment owner and operator, Cortland has a brand and reputation of success and customer service. 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. 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. Willy Walker: So, given the competitiveness for LP Investments and capital out there, in those early days when you were going and buying properties, you were obviously in a very competitive market, you're paying market prices for assets, you're investing in not only the asset but also all the infrastructure at Cortland. Those learnings really were helpful because there were times over the last 10 years where we would have 10 or 15 pretty major development or renovation projects and these renovations where 20, 30, 40 thousand dollars a unit. The second thing that came out of that research which is really what led to the pivot that you're asking about was, you know, we felt we saw the beginning of the transition in our clientele, and historically the clientele in multifamily had been a very commoditized business. Email this Business. We all had one agenda. To wrap up the conversation, he and Willy talk about the best and worst of leading the company now versus earlier in its life. If you think about the way most products or most developments are done or acquisitions or value add projects, they are really managed in a very bespoke basis with an internal acquisitions person or a developer and then external execution, whether it's design, architecture, construction, or construction management. Get a D&B Hoovers Free Trial. 346-206-1014. At Cortland, you'll feel empowered to define your career path, take on new challenges, and make a difference. We offer positions as builders, designers, engineers, analysts, experience curators, and everything in between. That to me, Steven, is sort of where the genius happened, and I just want to understand during that period of time what was it that you were seeing, what was the conviction that you had to invest in those two different areas? 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. Laramar is a national property management company offering apartments for rent nationwide. A focus on stripping out costs to be vertically integrated to allow you to scale from 5,000 units up to today over 65,000 units. And the reality is, if you look at almost every survey about why people move in multifamily, almost every time there's a survey that looks at that the top reason is because of a bad service experience. And so, it's a wildly competitive marketplace right now and you're seeing CAP rates continue to chink down and chink down. Like one or two percent of the total supply. Steven DeFrancis: But, sometimes it's good to have more ambition and brains. It tends to grow on itself so once you start with a small nucleus of really high-quality people, they attract higher quality people who want to work with them. As you know, Willy, we started a brand for 55 plus which we call the Tiva a number of years ago. It's going to be a real kick for me to have Dr. Kotter on the webcast as he was my leadership Professor back at HBS in 1994 which is dating both Dr. Kotter as well as myself. We're moving now into sensors and putting sensors in the equipment, so we can start to get proactive messaging when things are going to fail, instead of waiting until they fail. By progressively cutting out middlemen, standardization became easier and costs lower. It doesn't have to be perfect, but everybody wants to have pride in the place that they live. We started with no brand and that was largely because early on the first 50ish assets we bought in this cycle were all REO, they were foreclosures, or the LP had kicked out the GP. The vision also prompted a focus on brand. I can only imagine, Steven, that during the pandemic as hotels and office buildings were sort of sitting on the sidelines and weren't trading because nobody really wanted them, there were opportunities for you to step in and use your act rehab capabilities to convert a hotel, for instance, into a multifamily property. Tenant tried to remedy with on-site management **************************************** and off-site supervisor *************************************** The tenant currently has a 6 month lease (with 4 months remaining) and was offered a free transfer to relocate to another unit, however management now says it's contingent on a 13 month lease and a market increase on rent, to solve a ongoing noise complaint, which is pure greed and no regard for the tenants health and safety. Contact Us Address Cortland Properties, Inc. 7612 W. North Avenue Elmwood Park, IL 60707 Phone Phone: (708) 452-4242 Fax: (708) 452-4122 . When we were starved for capital and so making investments in real estate made a lot of sense. That took tons of friction out of the process of getting the projects done and executed, but then, even more importantly, when you moved operations, as long as you take care of the people, they'll take care of your customers. So to your point looking at all the ships on the board, we didn't make the ships move any faster, but at least we now had consistent information about when they were going to get to the port in LA or the port in Florida. Steven DeFrancis: We felt the brand was very important. Steven DeFrancis: That is correct. I can thank Bruce Cohen for the time he spent advising us, putting that team together. But that because of the nature of multifamily someone doesn't arrive somewhere and say Ive got to go find a Cortland asset to live in when they move from Atlanta to Dallas, and I think you've actually proved that wrong. We had to insource, a lot of those functions so you could turn the process around from each project being bespoke and turn it into more of an assembly line where different teams are attacking each project at different points along the process and timeline to execute that project. . Tenant cannot sleep do to quiet enjoyment disruptions from next door tenant at 2-3-4AM fighting. But is it fundamental to your business strategy to gain those economies of scale in a given city? While the recruitment process is rigorous, it yields a workforce well suited to particular jobs. Steven and his team manage a portfolio of multifamily assets located in 11 states, primarily in the Southeast, Midwest, and Texas. 2:33 - He introduces his guest, Steven DeFrancis, CEO of Cortland. Since its founding in 2005 Cortland has expanded into a global, vertically integrated, multifamily real estate investment, development, and asset management company. 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