Residents want smoke-free living, but will the multifamily industry deliver?
When Erik Kaiser graduated from college in 1992, one thing was certain: He wasn't interested in getting a job. No 9-to-5s, no bosses, no cubicles. What Kaiser wanted was to build something of his own, but at the time he wasn't sure what that was. So he explored his options and found what he was looking for in the real estate offices of Hoboken, N.J.
Doug Chesnut first met Ben Pisklak over breakfast in Houston. Chesnut hadn't officially settled into his position as senior vice president of investments at Gables Residential when he decided to meet Pisklak, the young development associate who was manning the firm's Houston office. What Chesnut expected to be a casual introduction quickly—and unexpectedly—turned to shop talk.
The multifamily real estate industry can be a pretty hard nut to crack. Whether business is booming or bottoming out, it's always competitive and fast-paced. You have to pull your weight and then some to keep up, and you need a plan of action for your properties and developments.
“You'll never reach the bar, because you're always raising it higher.” This is what the Myers-Briggs personality test told Karen Kossow in 2003 when she joined McLean, Va.-based Kettler Management (formerly KSI Services). She wasn't surprised; the assessment was dead-on.
