The Charles
The Charles, a multifamily community in Destin, FL, faced early lease-up challenges due to ongoing construction delays and non-operational amenities during its first year. To maintain resident satisfaction and protect the property’s online reputation, the Asset Living team implemented proactive communication strategies, a Virtual Leasing Concierge, and a strong lineup of community engagement initiatives. These efforts helped foster a boutique-style living experience, supported by consistent resident touchpoints and timely service delivery. With an average of 50 attendees per resident event and a sub-24-hour work order completion rate, The Charles successfully built a positive, service-driven community culture amid a difficult start.
Destin, FL
Multi-Family
2021
Challenges
- Increasing occupancy and maintaining a positive reputation amid significant construction delays, including availability of amenities.
- Pre-leasing efforts commenced in May 2021, and by Aug 2021, the property had pre-leased 46% of total units. Due to significant construction delays and several pushbacks, 51% of the original pre-leased units were lost.
- Non-operational amenities for the first 12-months after opening.
- Maintaining a positive reputation during move-in and amenity delays.
Our Approach
- Enlisted a Virtual Leasing Concierge to assist with the de-escalation of resident complaints, reducing the number of negative reviews online.
- Implementation of online reputation management dashboard, which allowed for timely responses to reviews across monitored platforms including Google, ApartmentRatings.com, Apartments.com, etc.
- Hosting 3 in person resident events a month, pet of the month recognition, and created resident touchpoints within the renter’s journey.
- Created amenity program for residents as our on-site amenities were not functional for 12 months.
- Spreadsheets were made to categorize maintenance requests as either vendor, warranty or property for a more streamlined process.
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The Results
- Created a community with a boutique-style feel, focusing on resident communication and positive resident relations with a monthly newsletter and a resident Facebook page.
- Resident events have an average of 50 attendees per event.
- Property has maintained open work order count average below 20 per week since time of implementation, with 697 having been completed YTD with an average completion time of <24 hrs.
- Within 1st 12 months of CO, the property achieved:
- Net Effective Rent growth of 11.3%
- Occupancy of 86%
- Absorption rate of 14 units/month
- Retention during 2022:
- Total of 47 expirations (May 2022 – Dec 2022)
- 27 Renewals for 57% retention
- Avg increase of $190/unit or 9.3%