Just when most in the apartment industry felt confident enough to create more public work and live environments, the spike in COVID-19 cases in much of the country have dimmed many of these efforts.
The South, in particular, has been hard hit, causing many apartment communities’ leasing offices and corporate offices to lock their doors except by appointment and flip their reopening plans in reverse.
Others are in limbo over delays in COVID-19 test results, and most are wondering about work schedules based on local schools’ reopening plans.
“Our lives are going back and forth,” says Brenda Lindner, executive vice president and managing partner of RAM Partners. “We’re all pros at this by now. We’ve learned to be nimble, and how to operate either in-office or a work-from-home setup. And, we’re 100% masks, all of the people, all of the time. We’ve done a lot of training with our staff about the consistency of wearing them.”
Lindner, along with Jamie Teabo, senior managing director, Southeast, at Greystar; and Melissa White, director of property management at Perennial, discussed reopenings and reversals during the Multifamily Huddle Zoom call July 10. The now monthly “Huddle” call is hosted by Jamin Harkness, executive vice president of The Management Group in Atlanta, with 160 C-suite industry executives to discuss operations.
Leasing office visits—and in-person leasing tours—are by appointment only. Otherwise, the doors are locked and virtual tours are encouraged. At corporate offices, companies are encouraging remote working as much as possible, making trips into headquarters voluntary.
“Most corporate team members have private offices. We allow our team members to come in as needed, while practicing social distancing. We encourage our corporate team to work from home when possible,” White says.
Lindner says RAM worked hard to prepare the reopening of her office, only to have it shut after one day after an employee was exposed to a person outside the company who had tested positive.
“We did all we could with an organized, grandiose plan, setting up arrows and great signage, but we had to close,” says Lindner, who plans to try to attempt a reopen in August.Teabo says Greystar shut its office and is pointing to Sept. 8 as a potential reopening date.
“If someone needs to enter the office, they can go in with supervisor approval,” Teabo says. “And we track who and when to make sure it’s not too crowded; temperatures must be taken, and masks must be worn. The employees are on their own when it comes to water or coffee. Those services are shut down out of an abundance of caution. We strongly encourage everyone to work remotely.”
Testing Positive is a Negative
Employees testing positive is affecting all companies in all markets.
“If employees are symptom free but awaiting test results, they must work from home,” Teabo says. “On-site employees can work from home, too. We’re able to find some duties for them to work on.”
Employees who have symptoms must stay home and they aren’t to engage in any work activities, she says. Greystar created a special “leave” code so that they are still paid and don’t have to take any sick or vacation time off.
Lindner says that if any staff member tests positive then the entire office is tested.
“When a negative test is presented, we sterilize the office and close it for three days before anyone can return,” she says. “Those testing positive must remain home for 14 days and then test negative to return.”
White requires any employees who test positive to provide a subsequent negative test to return. “We want employees to take the time to get well,” says White, who has had only one staff member testing positive for COVID-19. “We are a small company, and we have many employees who have to go from office to office, so shutting it down right away is even more important.”
Testing availability and the time needed learn the results has been wildly variable.
Harkness says some of his staff have waited 12 or more days. White says a 10-day wait is standard. Lindner has shut several offices, then tested all corporate employees, and waited seven days for results.
Some other apartment professionals who participated on the call suggested that the nasal rapid test’s results are made available sooner, and others said that having the test done by that person’s primary care doctor also is more time-effective.
Back to School?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on July 3 reissued its workplace guidelines for testing, isolation, and quarantine.
Companies are beginning to strategize about work-schedule policies for the fall, based on local school reopenings.
“We’re working through it, and it’s not completely figured out,” Lindner says. “For on-site teams, this is going to be a challenge.”
White says the Families First Act, having been extended to Dec 31, 2020, allows employees to take leave due to child care and earn two-thirds of their wages for a limited time. “We’ll come up with a flexible schedule for parents,” she says.
Teabo expects Greystar to announce its plan in a week or so.
Listening to the Governors
Communities are shifting their phased reopening plans based on rules from their governors that are changing now with the spike in reported cases.
“Waiting for a 14-day downward trajectory was the plan originally,” Harkness says. “But will that ever come? We’ll review the CDC’s new guidance and reevaluate that metric.”
Lindner says the reopening of her amenities have all gone well so far. “We’ll adjust, as needed, quickly, on a case-by-case basis.”
White’s portfolio is only in Atlanta, and she hasn’t changed its phased operations at this time.
So much of management’s thought process comes back to wearing masks.
“We are doubling down on our insistence that everyone wear masks,” Teabo says.
White requires masks 100%, and the company provides them to anyone who doesn’t have one, she says.
“We have cameras in our offices so headquarters can check in on operations to make sure people are doing proper spacing and following the rules,” she says. “And that applies to our outsourced vendors who come onto the property as well. Earlier in this process, not all of our vendor partners were consistent about doing this, and our residents certainly let us know about that.”
