Rev Up Your Rev Management
Anyone questioning the arrival of electronic pricing technologies to the multifamily industry need look no further than the Apartment Revenue Management Conference debuting this fall. Co-sponsored by The National Apartment Association and Multifamilyrevenue.com, the event will be held Sept. 12-14 at the Marriott Park City in Park City, Utah and will feature revenue management experts educating attending apartment owners and managers about revenue optimization strategies geared towards improving the financial performance of their portfolios, typically in the range of 3-5 percent increase in rent revenues. “Third-party property managers and multifamily property owners of all sizes will benefit from the broad and deep learning this conference will deliver,” says NAA president and CEO Doug Culkin, who estimates that only 15-20 percent of the apartment industry has migrated over to revenue management technology. “NAA is excited that revenue management is a key area for industry growth both in terms of corporate adoption and also in terms of executive education and development.”
Putting on the Ritz
Though often playing second sister to the hot Washington, D.C. market just down the BWI Parkway, Baltimore is coming into its own when it comes to multifamily, particularly on the for-sale side. All it took was a little discounting, say operators for the Ritz-Carlton Residences, which recently closed on 10 units after lowering prices. Three of the apartments were sold to Baltimore native and best selling author Tom Clancy, who bought out the entire penthouse level of one of the communities’ two buildings. Tax records show Clancy plopped down $785,892, $750,684 and $653,024 for three penthouse units, originally listed between $800,000 and $5 million.
Room with a View
Forget the farmer’s market: it’s multifamily harvest time! Chic urban apartment dwellers with a penchant for local and organic produce need not envy their single-family friends with sprawling backyard gardens. As profiled in GOOD magazine, the The Windowfarms Project has developed a hydroponic gardening system that uses inverted, recycled plastic bottles that hangs out in the standard apartment window frame. The garden kits run between $140 and $240 bucks and use a pump and irrigation system to grow tomatoes, peas, lettuce, you name it. As with any type of product piped into apartment plumbing utilities, make sure your residents are aware of and have taken steps to guard against leakage and flooding issues.
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