Coworking centers are becoming a popular solution for many employees in a new, more flexible world of hybrid, remote, and in-office work. Let’s explore the benefits of a coworking center. Desirability: Coworking centers are attractive to workers. They typically incorporate open space, bright light, modern layouts and an artistic environment. Some even have private rooftop terraces that overlook city skylines. Find several cities worldwide that now have coworking centers. Flexibility: As office workers adapt to new normal, flexibility is the most productive and efficient way to respond to change. Flexible office space is an ideal workplace compromise. Use of a coworking center forgoes the need to hot desk or hotel existing traditional office space – sharable space with needed amenities is already provided, as are collaborative meeting spaces. And since coworking centers are shared spaces, employers can pay monthly without committing to a long lease. Ease of use: Coworking centers will keep up with frequent technology changes. Coworking centers will always have high-speed internet and WiFi. In addition, coworking centers offer video and audio-enabled conference rooms, modern computer systems, improved HVAC systems, member mobile apps for easy bookings, and touchless technology. Some centers may have smart windows to block the outside street noise or can adjust for the lighting needed. Other amenities of coworking centers include parking, electric vehicle charging stations, bike storage, espresso bars, wellness rooms, fitness centers, and event spaces. Some coworking centers are even dog-friendly! Pool tables, dartboards, and ping pong tables are also available in coworking centers for enjoyable mental breaks. Collaboration: Coworking centers offer collaboration opportunities for employers and employees. Working in a virtual work environment, some forms of human contact are lost. When the team can unite in-person, collaborative work and creative ideas are cultivated. The saying “two heads are better than one” is still relevant, especially when working on projects, sales pitches and leads, and event planning. Coming together in a positive space gives the team a chance to brainstorm, collaborate, mentor, and build company culture. Community: Being in a coworking center builds a self-nurturing community among startups, freelancers, creative professionals, and corporate employees who need a focused workspace. The community of coworkers makes the workspace engaging and vibrant, elevating mood and performance. Plus, coworking centers are often located in busy metro areas. Many coworking centers will be found by gyms and restaurants, allowing employees to enjoy city life in conjunction with the coworking experience. Modern offices, equipped with high-end technology, customer-oriented amenities and features, and open space design, will be a requirement if companies decide to pursue a full-scale return to the office. Flexible coworking centers are the ideal compromise: they allow employees to work when and where they feel most comfortable, while preserving the critical benefits of in-person collaboration and...

Yardi is honored to receive the 2023 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year Sustained Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy after being named Partner of the Year for five consecutive years. The award celebrates companies that offer energy services and products in the commercial, institutional or industrial markets for successfully assisting clients with strategic energy management and building design. Partner of the Year award winners have made a long-term commitment to fighting climate change and promoting public health through energy efficiency messaging.  In addition to promoting ENERGY STAR, Partner of the Year award recipients work with ENERGY STAR to continuously improve and advance service offerings. The award acknowledges Yardi’s efforts to educate and support clients with benchmarking services and technology solutions across real estate sectors including: Helping clients benchmark energy and water in over 5,500 buildings Promoting the importance of ENERGY STAR scores to clients through education, training and visibility  Including ENERGY STAR in Yardi’s energy management software dashboard Publishing articles and social media posts on the benefits of benchmarking, energy management and conservation Providing digital energy courses for over 7,500 attendees during annual user conferences Sharing ENERGY STAR data to help clients gain access to green financing for buildings Earning ongoing ENERGY STAR certification for Yardi corporate headquarters in Goleta, California “As we accelerate historic efforts to address climate change, public-private partnerships will be essential to realizing the scale of our ambition,” said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. “I applaud this year’s ENERGY STAR award winners for working with EPA to deliver a clean energy future that saves American consumers and businesses money and creates jobs.” “We are proud to receive this honor from the EPA for the fifth consecutive year. Energy efficiency is a core component of our mission as a real estate technology provider, and we applaud our clients’ impressive achievements. We look forward to continuing to help our clients and the industry gain the utmost benefits using ENERGY STAR to meet business and sustainability goals as we all work together toward a clean energy future,” said Joe Consolo, Yardi industry principal for energy. See the complete list of winners...

We’re excited to share all that’s new and improved in RentCafe Wellness, our senior living solution for managing wellness programs. At a glance, RentCafe Wellness helps you create online activity calendars, track resident attendance and so much more. Ready to explore the enhancements — all inspired by client feedback? See below for an overview of how RentCafe Wellness looks today: A glance at RentCafe Wellness RentCafe Wellness (part of the Yardi Senior Living Suite) gives you the tools to effectively manage your community wellness initiatives. With this dynamic solution, you can: Schedule activities Create digital calendars Enable online payments Keep families connected Empower staff How the solution looks today There are several enhancements to cover, but first things first, we’d like to thank our wonderful senior living clients for their thoughtful feedback on RentCafe Wellness. It’s helped us create a refreshed solution packed with new features and improved usability. Here’s a look at the latest functionality in RentCafe Wellness: Starting with digital calendars, which staff can easily create in RentCafe Wellness, there are evolved features like the ability to build reusable design templates. Calendar design templates can be used by a single community or several! Staff can also copy an existing calendar design with a single click to create a new variation. Once your calendar (or multiple calendars) is created, you can easily designate it by care level or zone. Want your calendars printed to disperse across the community? No problem! Staff can quickly print daily, weekly or monthly calendars by downloading them as PDFs or word documents. When it comes to scheduling and marketing activities, we’ve made it easier than ever. Staff can create multiple templates as the starting point for scheduling dozens of activities, whether they’re one-time or recurring. Speaking of those recurring activities, staff can save time by creating a series that auto-populates in any given calendar for upcoming months (setting a single date, a date range or for all future instances). They can transfer the previous month’s resident registrations into an upcoming calendar, too. Additional functionality includes the ability to set activity registration as optional or required, guests allowed or prospective residents welcomed, to name a few. You can also create monthly paid activities, allowing you to expand your organization’s revenue streams. Whether you host something offsite or invite local experts to provide paid services in your community, setting and collecting fees is straightforward. Every enhanced feature for managing activities helps staff reduce their administrative work — leading to more time spent engaging with residents. Benefits of a single connected solution We’ve covered snazzy features like building calendars and setting up activities, but another big differentiator with RentCafe Wellness is that it exists on a single, integrated platform. You’re gaining a complete wellness and activity management solution that connects with key elements of the Yardi Senior Living Suite. Thanks to direct integration with Voyager Senior Housing (which populates resident lists and property records), RentCafe Wellness automatically updates occupancy details when new residents move in, and when former residents move out. This real-time information sharing allows staff to easily manage resident registration, attendance and more. A connection with Yardi Payment Processing simplifies the entire workflow for paid activities. Activity charges are paid just like other community charges with a one-time monthly ACH, debit or credit card payment, or via autopay. Payments you collect — and your payments to vendors — will come through as part of the monthly payer statement. Residents and family members can conveniently submit their online payments via RentCafe Senior Living Portal. In addition to offering the convenience of online payments, RentCafe Senior Living Portal allows family members to see which activities residents are attending, and you have the option to allow family members to register for activities on a resident’s behalf. This helps families stay in the loop regarding their loved one’s health and wellbeing. As an added bonus, residents and families...

Wanting to fill your calendar with impactful senior living events? We have a roundup of recommendations that span throughout 2023, all of which offer a chance to network with senior living professionals.    Keep reading for the list of events we recommend exploring this year:   OLTCA/ORCA Together We Care Convention & Tradeshow First up is the OLTCA/ORCA Together We Care Convention & Tradeshow, taking place March 27-29 in Toronto. This in-person convention connects long term care and retirement community professionals, sparking conversations that are sure to challenge and inform all attendees. You can visit team Yardi at booth 308 — we’ll be excited to meet you and share more about the Yardi Senior Living Suite. Ready to get something on the books in advance? Schedule time to meet us at OLTCA/ORCA 2023. Texas Assisted Living Association Annual Conference & Tradeshow Save the date for the Texas Assisted Living Association Annual Conference & Tradeshow in Round Rock, Texas, on April 5-7. You’ll connect with assisted living leaders to share ideas, talk about industry updates and bond over lessons learned through recent challenges. Our team will be in attendance at booth 310 if you’d like to schedule time to connect! Argentum Senior Living Executive Conference The Argentum Senior Living Executive Conference is coming up as well, an annual gathering of thousands of senior living professionals, operators, owners, executives and community leaders. Set for May 8-10 in New Orleans, Louisiana, the conference is an empowering and educational experience. Not only are we sponsoring the registration, we’ll also have a presence at booth 3100. Reach out to get a meeting scheduled with team Yardi. Florida Senior Living Association Annual Conference Looking for a summer event? Head to the Florida Senior Living Association Annual Conference on June 25-28 in Boca Raton, Florida, for a chance to network with likeminded leaders. You can meet us at booth 38, but feel free to plan a meeting with us in advance. California Assisted Living Association Spring Conference & Trade Show  We can’t forget the annual California Assisted Living Association Spring Conference & Trade Show, which features engaging, interactive learning sessions. This year’s Spring conference takes place June 5-7 in Sacramento, California. We’re pleased to sponsor the awards luncheon — and connect with attendees at booth 213! Be sure to stop by or contact us to connect prior to the show. California Assisted Living Association Fall Conference & Tradeshow If you plan to attend the CALA Spring Conference, make sure to mark your calendar for the California Assisted Living Association Fall Conference & Tradeshow too, taking place in Palm Springs, California, on November 6-8. We’ll have more details as the event gets closer, but we’re excited to sponsor the awards luncheon for this one. Oregon Healthcare Association Annual Convention & Trade Show Let’s talk about the Oregon Healthcare Association Annual Convention & Trade Show, which is hosted in Portland, Oregon. You can join professionals across the industry for an in-depth learning experience on September 19-20. We’re a proud co-sponsor of the awards program for this event. More details to come! See you at senior living events throughout 2023! Be sure to check our Yardi events page for the full list of events we’re attending this year. If you have questions in the meantime about our senior living management software, or you’re ready to schedule time to connect, don’t hesitate to reach out via the meeting links shared...

We couldn’t pass up the chance to feature a cool initiative from one of our senior living clients, an initiative focused on bringing residents’ passions to light. Shout out to Maplewood Senior Living for their blog series that highlights how residents are finding purpose and joy — including their recent post spotlighting their art-loving residents. Spotlighting Maplewood’s resident artists As mentioned in their post, Maplewood didn’t have to look far to find resident artists. From participating in daily art activities within their community to sparking creativity on their own, these residents bring some amazing designs to the table. Starting with Maplewood at Weston resident Judith Kohn, a talented individual who claims art rescued her during a difficult season of life. Inviting creations are spread across her apartment with pieces hung on walls, sitting on the furniture and even propped on the floors. With her strong love for art, it’s no surprise Judith has become one of Maplewood at Weston’s most active ambassadors. She’s been spreading her knowledge by teaching a monthly art class for other residents since moving to the community in July of 2022. At Maplewood’s newest community in New Jersey, Maplewood at Princeton, you’ll find resident Rosalyn Mass, who’s held a lifelong passion for the arts. She taught painting and drawing for seventeen years directly out of her home, working with children from different backgrounds and cultures. She later worked with a local library to have her students’ work exhibited, too. Quite impressively, Rosalyn never had any formal training — simply a natural talent and dedication to channeling her inner artist. Head to Maplewood’s blog post to see photos of both Judith and Rosalyn’s art pieces!   Celebrating our senior living clients It’s always fun to share something joyful from our senior living clients and the residents they serve. We applaud Maplewood for celebrating their residents’ creativity — we love featuring initiatives like their blog series here on The Balance Sheet. Have questions about how Yardi works with clients like Maplewood? Get in touch with our senior living team...

Employee Appreciation Day is this Friday, March 3, but you can start the celebration anytime! If you haven’t taken advantage of celebrating Employee Appreciation Day before, now is a great chance to do so. Expressing gratitude and letting employees know that you appreciate them is one of the best ways to keep employees engaged and motivated in the workplace. Here are some creative ideas that will show your employees they are appreciated. Team building day. If the budget allows, take a group outing to a fun team-building activity. Bowling or TopGolf are great outings with teams to have some friendly competition. Have employees vote on a fun activity to do together. This will create excitement and show employees that the company cares about their input. If your team is working from home, plan a virtual escape room. There’s a virtual escape room for every team dynamic with different themes, from art heists to murder mysteries. If spending money is out of the budget, volunteering at a locally supported nonprofit is a great way to get out of the office and doesn’t cost anything. If anything, everyone will feel better when doing better. Bring in a guest speaker. Keep things exciting by bringing in a surprise guest. Find a motivational speaker, hypnotist, or comedian to bring in for a fun break during the workday. Since most of today’s world works from home, you can schedule a virtual Zoom meeting with the guest. Bringing in a guest speaker or entertainer is a great way to boost employees’ moods and improve employee morale. Plus, it will leave employees with something to talk about for years to come! Write a LinkedIn Recommendation. LinkedIn is a modern, public-facing resume. When employees consistently perform well, take some time to write thoughtful recommendations on LinkedIn about the value they bring to the company. Include details about how the employee drove business results and how much you enjoy working with them on various projects. This unique way of showing appreciation demonstrates your investment in employees’ career development now and in the future. Endorsements for skills mastery on LinkedIn can work the same way. Recognition ceremony. When he recognized his employees at the Dundie awards, Michael Scott was onto something. What a great way to show that the company cares and recognizes success. Employee recognition is essential to creating strong office culture. Host a recognition ceremony for your employees to celebrate Employee Appreciation Day. Honor each employee for a contribution that they have made to the team. You might not go as quirky as The Office but have some fun and get creative for awards to keep things lively. Gratitude notes. A little bit of gratitude can go a long way in the workplace. Create thank you notes for each employee that express why you and the company are grateful for having them on the team. Try not to make these cards sound generic—consider how each individual has contributed to the company’s success. If budget allows, include a small personal gift or gift card with the gratitude note. These recognition ideas will communicate to employees and teams that you and the company see and appreciate their hard work. Virtual employees can often feel forgotten or disconnected. By increasing recognition and gratitude, team members will likely feel more engaged and motivated to continue doing their best work daily. With all the benefits and return on investment from appreciation, it’s worth the...

As investment funds become harder to secure for commercial real estate, transparency and communication have become more important than ever. Today’s investors want access to reports and investment metrics on demand, including on a mobile device at any time. If you’re not already delivering this level of self-service for investors, making that happen will go a long way to increase their confidence. Standing out in an increasingly competitive marketplace to attract (and retain) investors requires ditching manual processes and outdated accounting methods — especially error-prone spreadsheets. Gone are the days of publishing information 45 or more days after a quarter to investors.  Investors expect access to their investment positions, reports and other key documents anytime – anywhere.  Investors are also asking for more detailed asset-level operating data in addition to investment data, putting more burden on your teams and their ability to respond to inquiries quickly. Today’s investors want the numbers and what’s driving them, knowing that property operations impact cash flow and ultimately give rise to distributions and higher asset value.  Navigating CRE financing trends As CRE development is slowing down, investors and lenders are becoming more cautious, and securing financing for new deals is more challenging. In this economic climate, having the right technology to attract and retain investors is more important than ever. As CRE executives reflect on 2023: In a recent (1/10/23) Commercial Property Executive survey, “Poll: CRE’s Biggest Challenges in 2023,”1 “Sixty percent [of commercial real estate professionals] identified that interest rates and capital availability as their primary business and dealmaking obstacle.” In “The 2023 CRE Outlook: CEOs Weigh In”2 five CEOs agreed that the combination of economic, global and policy unknowns is having a pronounced effect on dealmaking.” Jonathan Martin, CEO of AEW Capital Management North America Division attested, “All of our clients are waiting for those adjustments to take place.” Increasing Insight and communication It comes down to insight and communication. A single connected technology platform enables analysis of investor, investment and property key metrics, effective communication with investors and efficiencies with fundraising processes.   An integrated investor portal enables self-service for investors, with access to key data and reports. Key benefits of using a single connected solution with a built-in investor portal include: Distributing reports automatically, including K-1 statements Integrating the investor portal with accounting for speed and accuracy Gaining greater visibility for internal stakeholders to answer investor questions quickly Streamlining the subscription agreement process Automating capital calls and distributions Empowering internal stakeholders with data and financials at their fingertips These capabilities drive investor confidence through the responsive online delivery of timely data. through a secure portal instead of email. Learn more about how Yardi Investment Manager improves investor confidence and collaboration for all stakeholders through a single connected platform. 1Poll: CRE’’s Biggest Challenges in 2023 – Commercial Property Executive (commercialsearch.com) 2The 2023 CRE Outlook: CEOs Weigh In – Commercial Property Executive...

Next month, thousands of Yardi clients from around the world will join together in learning, fellowship and fun. The occasion is YASC Global, the fourth annual virtual Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference, which happens March 1-2. The conference, which is offered free with automatic registration for all Yardi clients, will showcase the company’s latest technology innovation updates through hundreds of new on-demand classes and spotlight sessions delivered on the company’s Yardi® Aspire platform.. Commercial, multifamily, senior living, affordable and real estate investment management are just some of the areas covered in the 250-plus class offerings. And, and always, YASC Global isn’t just about work – it also lets participants catch up with their industry peers, interact with Yardi solution specialists, and win daily prizes and big grand prizes at the end of the conference. In short, it’s a lot of fun! “YASC Global helps our clients enhance the value they gain from their software, discover new solutions they might not be aware of, and connect with their fellow software users and our product experts – all of which move their business forward,” said Kevin Yardi, the company’s vice president of global solutions. The most recent YASC Global in March 2022 drew more than 15,000 clients who collectively attended more than 100,000 classes over three days. Two other online events in 2020 and 2021 also drew tens of thousands of participants. After YASC Global, Yardi will continue its series of popular in-person YASCs in Asia, the Middle East, North America and Australia/New Zealand this year. See the...

Reimagining core affordable housing processes is a high priority of Yardi’s development, support and services team. Our goal is to make compliance faster, easier, more cost-effective and sustainable. If we achieve that, then we’ll have made it easier for households to find, apply for, and move into affordable housing units. Faster verifications and move-ins mean fewer days vacant, more operating revenue and greater opportunity to serve more households in affordable housing communities. Yet, challenges exist that make it more difficult now for affordable housing providers to carry out their missions. Finding, training and retaining talent capable of navigating the complexities of compliance is a commonly cited barrier that affordable housing providers are trying to overcome. That’s where automated, professional services can help affordable housing providers make compliance faster, easier and more cost-effective. Reimagining Affordable Housing Verifications Qualifying for an affordable housing apartment is almost always based on the income and assets of an applicant household. The process is traditionally completed by housing specialists employed by affordable housing providers. They generate verification forms for employers and banks to complete, then work to ensure the information their applicants have shared about their household finances is verified and accurate. Studies show that process can take more than an hour of combined staff time, and up to a month or more to complete. It’s expensive, time-consuming, and relies on many steps to verify actual income. Now, there’s a new way. Yardi Verification Services is the latest innovative additions to the Yardi Affordable Housing and Yardi PHA suites. The automated solution makes verifying income and assets more affordable, more accurate and much less of a workload for on-site staff. Yardi’s strategic partnerships with several sources of financial data makes it possible for affordable housing operators to receive income and asset verifications much faster than doing the process manually. In most cases, verifications will arrive within minutes. Yardi Verification Services, only available to Yardi clients with a license for RentCafe Affordable Housing or RentCafe PHA, is a digital, paperless and hands-free process. There are no manual forms to fill out, and no waiting around for employers and financial services companies to complete and send back. Once a household begins a certification in RentCafe, they can consent via email or text message to having their income and assets verified by Yardi Verification Services. The housing provider’s on-site team receives the household’s verifications directly into RentCafe and records the verified totals to complete the certification. “I’ve worked for decades creating technology solutions with the ultimate goal of reducing the cost and complexity of affordable housing compliance. Yardi Verification Services is high on my list of products that accomplish that vision,” said Chris Voss, Yardi vice president of affordable housing sales. Affordable housing providers can learn more about Yardi Verification Services by joining an upcoming webinar. Yardi clients can also call (800) 866-1144 to reach their sales representative to schedule a free demonstration. Visit yardi.com for more information or download a...

Ever heard the term digital transformation? According to a recent white paper by LeadingAge, the concept is critical for senior living operators to understand — as it offers a way to reimagine how they run their communities. There’s a lot covered in the resource, so we put together a quick summary below! Read on to learn what digital transformation means, why it matters in senior living and how you can maximize your potential with this information in mind. Digital transformation defined First things first, what is digital transformation? LeadingAge defines the term as follows: Digital transformation is the process and journey of using digital technologies to create new — or modify existing — organizational processes, culture and resident/staff experiences to meet changing business and market requirements. While technology platforms are a key element, digital transformation is more than installing a single solution. It begins and ends with how you think about, and engage with, residents and staff. In relation to senior living, LeadingAge says that digital transformation is critical to the future sustainability of operators. Why is digital transformation critical?   LeadingAge explains that various factors make digital transformation critical for today’s senior living organizations. One key factor is the industry-wide staffing shortage, which is driving the need to abandon manual processes and opt for digital workflows to ease staff burden. Looking at the big picture, shifting to a digital system helps operators boost productivity, reduce costs, improve resident and staff experiences and so much more. Especially when digital workflows unite on a single platform, like the Yardi Senior Living Suite. How can senior living operators navigate a digital transformation? The white paper — Digital Transformation in Aging Services — outlines how senior living organizations can transition to digital workflows with three key elements in mind. These elements (the three Ps) include people, process and platforms. Starting with people, LeadingAge states that a successful digital transformation is largely dependent on your existing personnel and stakeholders. You need to assess their digital skills and understanding, provide clarity on what role they’ll play in adopting new technology and decide what training is needed. Outside of internal people like staff, the white paper reveals that external people — such as family members and volunteers — also play an important role in digital transformation. Next up is process, more specifically identifying, analyzing and improving existing processes. The white paper shares how taking a closer look at processes helps operators eliminate weak points in their current operations, as well as: Improve productivity, efficiency, utilization and quality Reduce operational budget by effectively using assets and resources Eliminate waste and duplication of tasks Reduce friction in business processes Improve the staff and resident experience Reduce process completion time LeadingAge also shares a few questions operators can ask themselves when looking at processes, such as: How can we employ digital technology to standardize and automate processes that are repetitive and redundant? How can digital technology help us organize data to provide faster, more accurate and more predictive views on our business? How do we leverage digital technology to generate and act on meaningful customer insights that can help improve our services? The last element introduced is platforms, otherwise referred to as technology. Simply put, the platform/technology element provides the actual tools that operators need to go digital.   Yardi senior living solutions When it comes to the third element outlined by LeadingAge, the technology itself, it’s important to find a solution that’s built for the unique needs of senior living. Also, one that offers tools that integrate with one another to ensure you maximize efficiency at the highest level. The Yardi Senior Living Suite does it all, combining everything you need on a cloud-based, centralized platform. It’s built for operators of all types and sizes and includes tools for financials, marketing, care and more. Explore the Yardi Senior Living Suite. Read the white paper If you’re ready...