Representing 178,000 units across 850 communities, Cushman & Wakefield’s multifamily property management team has seen a great start to 2023.
“We continue to see strong performance from our teams, and I am proud of the work that our teams do each day to serve our residents and our clients,” says Woody Stone, president of U.S. multifamily asset services.

Stone stepped into his role at the start of this year following the retirement of Rick Graf. For the better part of five years, Graf and Stone have been planning and collaborating for the transition. Stone says, “The last two years–with leadership support–Rick intentionally stepped back a bit from the day-to-day operations. That wasn’t easy for a leader that has served this industry for over 40 years, but he knew it was best for the organization. By doing so and to his credit, this transition was somewhat of a change/no change event. This humble and thoughtful approach served our teams and our clients well.”
The transition also created an opportunity for leaders to step forward and take on more responsibility—something Stone has been proud to see. “The markets today are certainly not what they were one year ago, and with that we have had to adapt and change. However, at our core, we are the same company that we have been for years. We are committed to creating a culture where we ‘Care First and Care Most’ for our clients, residents, and team members. This is what defines us.”
To take the best care of clients and residents, the firm is focused on discipline and achieving operating excellence as this year has brought challenges in inflationary pressures on clients’ assets and staffing. Stone and his team are committed to listening to both clients and team members while providing tools for success. The focus on operations begins with sourcing new talent and improving the experience of every team member.
“At Cushman & Wakefield, we are focused on opportunities around the property accounting function, leasing, and maintenance, which we are testing with a number of clients. For years, maybe decades, the promise of proptech has been greater efficiency at the property level, but that goal has been elusive. Often in our industry we still utilize the 1:100 benchmark to set staffing. Today’s staffing challenges, both in finding and retaining staff and in the escalating payroll costs, are pushing us to innovate.”
To combat escalating costs, Cushman & Wakefield is aiming to leverage the size and scale of a global company to provide the best in technology, and the best in pricing and services across vendor partners. While the firm does renovate and reposition assets, today it manages more Class A assets than any other class. “Throughout the country, we have built a team of professionals with the experience and passion to manage these high-end buildings,” Stone adds.
The team also manages over 90 lease-up buildings nationwide. When adding a new property to the portfolio, Stone says it’s always an exciting time that also represents challenges. “Care must be given to understanding the unique attributes of the asset and ensuring that thorough diligence is performed. Our approach is focused on supporting the local team with a centralized, dedicated transition team,” shares Stone. “Our transition team follows a rigorous methodology to manage the many takeover tasks. Having this team allows our local team to focus on onboarding the new members.”
Believing that a true leader fights for the good of others, Stone is committed to the company’s culture of always doing the right thing and showing kindness and humility. “This is the culture of the Cushman & Wakefield team. We are not perfect, but we are chasing these qualities,” Stone concludes. “This industry is a gift, and we are privileged to make a difference in our communities.”
RANK + COMPANY | HEADQUARTERS | CORPORATE OFFICER | UNITS MANAGED 2023/2022 | RANK 2022 |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. Greystar Real Estate Partners | Charleston, SC | Robert A. Faith | 726,826/698,257 | 1 |
2. Lincoln Property Company | Dallas, TX | Tim Byrne | 213,900/210,086 | 2 |
3. Asset Living | Houston, TX | Ryan McGrath | 172,145/169,350 | 4 |
4. Cushman & Wakefield | Houston, TX | Woody Stone | 178,105/172,145 | 3 |
5. FPI Management | Folsom, CA | Dennis Treadaway | 159,248/140,210 | 4 |
6. RPM Living | Austin, TX | Jason Berkowitz | 148,603/112,872 | 7 |
7. Apartment Management Consultants, LLC | Cottonwood Heights, UT | Brenda Barrett | 130,776/113,728 | 6 |
8. BH | Des Moines, IA | Joanna Zabriskie | 107,774/106,353 | 8 |
9. WinnCompanies | Boston, MA | Gilbert Winn | 105,673/103,064 | 6 |
10. Avenue5 Residential | Seattle, WA | Walt Smith | 100,805/86,958 | 7 |
11. MAA | Germantown, TN | H. Eric Bolton Jr. | 99,676/100,002 | 10 |
12. RangeWater Real Estate | Atlanta, GA | Steven L. Shores | 97,072/78,380 | 17 |
13. Morgan Properties | King of Prussia, PA | Mitchell L. Morgan | 95,594/96,107 | 11 |
14. Bozzuto | Greenbelt, MD | Toby Bozzuto | 88,710/79,789 | 13 |
15. Cortland | Kern, GA | Steven DeFrancis and Jason Kern | 83,654/76,381 | New |
16. Equity Residential | Chicago, IL | Mark J. Parrell | 79,594/80,407 | 16 |
17. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. | Arlington, VA | Ben Schall and Sean Breslin | 79,399/80,573 | 14 |
18. Bell Partners | Greensboro, NC | Lili Dunn | 77,955/68,855 | 18 |
19. ZRS Management, LLC | Orlando, FL | Steven Buck | 76,455/60,193 | 27 |
20. Monarch Investment & Management Group | Franktown, CO | Bob Nicolls | 71,661/66,898 | 20 |
21. Edward Rose Building Enterprise | Bloomfield Hills, MI | Warren Rose | 69,567/68,379 | 19 |
22. The Michaels Organization | Camden, NJ | John J. O'Donnell | 67,444/57,839 | 26 |
23. The Related Companies, LP | New York, NY | Jeff Blau | 66,902/65,728 | 21 |
24. RAM Partners LLC | Atlanta, GA | Bill Leseman | 62,716/51,926 | 32 |
25. Essex Property Trust, Inc. | San Mateo, CA | Michael Schall and Angela Kleiman | 62,147/62,290 | 24 |
26. Camden Property Trust | Houston, TX | Richard J. Campo and D. Keith Oden | 58,702/58,300 | 29 |
27. First Communities | Atlanta, GA | Mitch Harrison | 58,576/52,147 | 31 |
28. Weidner Apartment Homes | Kirkland, WA | W. Dean Weidner | 58,556/54,807 | 25 |
29. UDR, Inc. | Highlands Ranch, CO | Tom Toomey | 58,374/57,483 | 30 |
30. ConAm Management Corp. | San Diego, CA | Rob Singh | 56,165/51,743 | 33 |
31. Harbor Group International, LLC | Atlanta, GA | Jordan Slone | 55,997/56,631 | 28 |
32. Bridge Investment Group | Sandy, UT | Colin Apple and Matt DeGraw | 55,640/49,755 | 34 |
33. Hawthorne Residential Partners | Greensboro, NC | Samantha Davenport | 49,703/40,698 | 40 |
34. Balfour Beatty | Malvern, PA | Christopher Williams | 46,733/48,150 | 35 |
35. GoldOller Real Estate Investments, LLC | Delray Beach, FL | Jake Hollinger | 45,531/40,679 | 41 |
36. FPA Multifamily | San Francisco, CA | Gregory A. Fowler | 45,200/42,335 | 39 |
37. Pegasus Residential | Alpharetta, GA | Lindy Ware | 45,063/43,208 | 37 |
38. Village Green | Southfield, MI | Diane K. Batayeh | 43,619/38,006 | 38 |
39. GID | Atlanta, GA | Gregory Bates | 42,876/39,735 | 43 |
40. Fairfield Residential Company LLC | San Diego, CA | Richard Boynton | 42,256/40,297 | 42 |
41. Cardinal Group Management | Denver, CO | Alex O'Brien | 40,370/39,570 | 44 |
42. Drucker + Falk | Newport News, VA | Wendy Drucker, Kellie Falk, and David Falk | 39,843/37,710 | 45 |
43. Dominium | Dallas, TX | Paul Sween and Mark Moorhouse | 38,491/37,631 | 46 |
44. Beztak Companies | Farmington Hills, MI | Samuel Beznos | 37,757/36,945 | 47 |
45. Berkshire Residential Investments | Boston, MA | David Olney and Alan King | 37,036/29,037 | New |
46. United Apartment Group | San Antonio, TX | Tim Settles and Carrie Girgus | 35,746/35,440 | 49 |
47. Independence Realty Trust | Philadelphia, PA | Scott Schaeffer and Farrell Ender | 35,526/36,831 | 48 |
48. The John Stewart Company | San Francisco, CA | Jack Gardner and Noah Schwartz | 35,304/34,402 | 50 |
49. American Landmark | Tampa, FL | Joe Lubeck | 34,128/33,303 | New |
50. RKW Residential | Charlotte, NC | Marcie Williams | 33,887/28,559 | New |