Pub. 4 2019 Issue 4

10 www.ctaahq.org “ ere was one guest in particular who ended up leasing at the property because it was more nancially e cient to sign a 12-month lease than pay a daily rate,” Sikaria says. “ at’s a very small exam- ple, but I think if it works really well and there’s that collaboration [between the apartment manager and the short-stay operator], it could help with leasing.” Short-term apartments also can poten- tially serve as an amenity for long-term residents. An existing apartment resident in any building occupied by provider Locale, for example, gets a 20 percent discount on short-stay units. “Obviously there are some blackout dates, but we’ve had a lot of residents take us up on that o er and book our apartments for their friends and family coming to town,” says Locale’s Founder, Nitesh Gandhi. “ at’s been a strong program element that can help increase resident satisfaction.” Camden negotiated a resident and em- ployee discount on the Lyric apartments at its Camden Travis Street community. “ is is a resident amenity for us because [the resident] can use it when someone in their family, for example, visits for a weekend stay,” Baker says. “If one of our associates is traveling to Houston, they can also rent the Lyric apartments.” Bozzuto’s Sikaria says there’s also an opportunity to utilize unused parking spaces. “At one building, the short- term-stay operator charges $30 a day for parking and the property receives a revenue share of that parking income,” she says. “It’s been another small stream of revenue. But if the short-term-stay operator had 100 units in the building, that could actually become a more sub- stantial contribution.” Providers also can hold social events to help educate residents about what’s hap- pening on the oor they rent out. “We throw launch events for the entire build- ing [when Lyric units are introduced],” Kitchell says. “We want to know what’s happening in our apartments.” Not surprising, some apartment rms are also using short-stay companies as a testing ground for the next genera- tion of amenities, because whether it’s access control, smart-home features or noise-monitoring systems, short-term- rental providers have been at the fore- front of technology adoption. “Traditional apartment operators get to watch and learn and see what technol- ogy is being used by [short-term-stay providers] to decide if they want to [add it to] their assets for residents,” Hines’ Kuntz says. Newton says she’s intrigued by short- term providers’ use of decibel meters to monitor inappropriate noise levels, for example. Vacation-rental manager Vacasa’s multifamily housing o ering can provide retro ts and other upgrades to make the older communities that it operates more attractive. “One community had challenges with [security] for its long-term residents because the keys didn’t work well,” says Joshua Viner, Senior Manager of Vacasa Multifamily. “We were able to come in and provide them with an updated entry system, which bene ts us because it allows our guests to get into the buildings more easily.” Stay Alfred has incorporated what it describes as “smart callbacks,” an Al- exa-enabled feature, at its Nashville 505 property in Nashville, Tenn. Essen- tially, visitors can use the in-unit Alexa to “Ask Alfred” about the property, local recommendations and more. “It’s a little bit gimmicky right now, but everything is going toward the voice in the future,” says the provider’s Found- er, Jordan Allen. “ ere are some really cool things we can do with it. We’re getting decent usage.” The Downside to Short-Term While leasing apartments to short-term- stay companies can provide additional amenities and extra revenue, these arrangements don’t come without risk. Having had some bad experiences with corporate housing providers, Vanessa Siebern, Vice President, FPI Manage- ment, cautions apartment operators to be wary of the companies it partners with, especially when it comes to credit screening. “People should be aware that many who rent in short-term communities are often