ZRS Management, a third-party property manager based in Orlando, Florida, is one of the biggest movers on the National Multifamily Housing Council’s top apartment managers list this year, moving up six spots. Ranked No. 13, ZRS hit nearly 93,000 units managed at the start of 2025. Since then, it has surpassed 100,000 units under management.
Multifamily Executive caught up with Darren Pierce, who took over the role of president and CEO in January, to discuss the milestone, leadership, resident satisfaction, and what’s next for the property management firm.
Reaching 100,000 units under management is a major milestone. What were the key strategies or decisions that helped ZRS scale so successfully?
Besides 100,000 units being a nice round number, it was never a milestone we were chasing. Our strategy has remained simple: hire the best people, work with the best owners, and engage with the best vendor partners. The growth to 100,000 units confirms that our employees and clients believe we have approached the management business the right way. We’ve grown 100% organically by being awarded third-party management contracts deal by deal and have never grown through acquisitions of communities or other property management companies. Our approach to organic growth has allowed us to maintain our strong culture and has allowed our team to focus on providing the best services to our clients and residents.
What role has innovation or technology played in ZRS’ ability to scale operations across so many units?
Innovation and technology have been central to our ability to scale efficiently without compromising the quality of service we’re known for. Across every part of our business from accounting, HR, marketing and IT to site-level operations, we’ve adopted technology that creates consistency, transparency, and speed. Our growth wouldn’t have been possible without the digital infrastructure and systems that support and connect our teams across hundreds of communities. A major driver of that success has been our investment in centralized operations, an approach made possible by technology. But centralization didn’t come from simply adopting new tools; it came from challenging long-held assumptions about how we operate. It’s the combination of forward-thinking teams and evolving customer expectations that has allowed us to use technology not just to automate, but to rethink and improve the way we work. When done thoughtfully, it helps our people work smarter, stay connected, and deliver consistent, high-quality results at scale.
How has your leadership team evolved as the company has grown to this size?
We believe strongly that a leadership team needs to be highly engaged with the on-site team members and continue to expand our leadership team through a balanced combination of internal promotions and external additions. Last summer, we created the position of chief operating officer and promoted Jackie Impellitier, who has been with ZRS for more than 25 years, to fill that office. Brian Jordan also joined our team from another large owner/operator as our chief financial officer. We have also promoted several of our key regional leaders to regional vice presidents and have brought on some key external hires for that role as well. Equally important for the company, we have elevated several division heads to run small business units throughout our operations, accounting, and marketing departments. These moves signify ZRS’ strategic evolution driven by the company’s growth and future vision.
How does ZRS ensure a consistent and high-quality resident experience across all communities?
At ZRS, the resident experience starts by focusing on the curb appeal of our communities and continues through the entire life cycle of the lease. Focusing our management services on communities that are centrally located allows us to keep our regional managers’ portfolios small so they can support our on-site teams and spend much of their week at their respective communities. Our high Google reviews, survey results, and resident retention shows that focusing on taking care of the little details at our communities makes the biggest impact.
What feedback or metrics do you track most closely to ensure resident satisfaction stays high?
We track the usual metrics, including Google reviews, resident satisfaction surveys, and retention rates, but what matters most is what we do with that feedback. Our teams review trends regularly, and we’re quick to adjust operations when we see a pattern, whether it’s a maintenance delay or communication gap. At the end of the day, resident satisfaction is about making sure our teams are responsive, detail oriented, and focused on what matters most to the people who live in our communities.
What trends in multifamily management are most exciting—or most concerning—to you right now?
Continuing to provide growth opportunities for our employees is the most exciting part of our business. There are always multiple pressures that we focus on that impacts our business in the short term, both positively and negatively, but being in the housing business will always ensure significant opportunities for our team members. Delayed homeownership and household formation are two areas that are major headlines today that the multifamily industry has already created solutions for through build-to-rent homes and higher-density developments. How this evolves in the long term will be interesting to see.
Now that you’ve hit 100,000 units, what’s next?
The future is about scaling with intention, leading the industry in both performance and culture, and setting a new standard for multifamily partnership. We’ll focus on recruiting and retaining the best associates, providing meaningful work experience for our team, and partnering with the top multifamily owners. But the bottom line, while we have hit 100,000 units, we will continue to be the same group we’ve always been.
