The senior living industry is continuously changing. Providers must adapt to unique challenges — pandemic included — to keep their communities moving forward. That includes finding new ways for residents, family members and staff to easily stay in touch from anywhere.   Which methods are most effective? What has the power to keep your communities connected? The answer starts with technology.To delve deeper, we put together a fresh, comprehensive ebook here at Yardi. It details five ways technology connects senior living communities and explores why our secure online portal, RentCafe Senior Living, is a differentiator. The inspiration was to give providers a detailed yet concise look at how technology bridges gaps in communication, enhances resident satisfaction and more. Check out the sneak peek below then read the ebook in full. We hope you enjoy! The importance of technology Did you know four out of five adults age 50+ rely on technology to stay in touch with others, according to the AARP? And 44% of seniors view technology more positively as a way to stay connected than they did before the pandemic? It’s undeniable that technology has become an important — if not essential — tool for communication among older adults. That includes those residing in senior living communities and by extension, their families and the staff members they interact with. But when providers look to implement a tech solution for their communities, not just any solution will do. They need a platform that is easy to navigate, secure and integrated with other facets of their business — from financials to resident health records and more. That’s where leading solutions like RentCafe Senior Living come in. As Yardi’s secure online portal for senior living communities, RentCafe Senior Living enhances communication among residents, families and staff...

5G, the next generation mobile network, launched in 2020, following in the footsteps of a steady progression of voice capability, call and text encryption, data transmission, video calling, mobile internet. 1G started it all in 1981, 2G came 11 years later, and 3G and 4G made their entries in 2001 and 2012, respectively. 5G figures to impact everything from entertainment and healthcare to farming and robotic factory workers, meeting an ever-growing need for high data rates for virtual, augmented and mixed reality. So is 6G the inevitable next step in this evolution? On one hand, 5G, which promises significantly faster data rates, higher connection density and lower latency, among other things, hasn’t even been fully deployed. But “in the next 10 years, we can expect massive changes and new technologies coming into our lives which will require more and more connectivity at higher speeds as we transfer more and more data,” says Dr. Shaghik Atakaramians, a senior lecturer at the University of New South Wales Sydney’s School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications. She continues, “We can imagine completely autonomous systems; or multi-sensory extended reality which integrates the five traditional human senses with the digital world; or real-time remote telesurgery; or complete virtual shopping malls.” ‘Always on a 6G path’ That means, New York City-based technology information consultant Lifewire says, that “technology always pushes forward and standards take a long time to mature, so we’ve always been on a path to a 6G world. We’ve managed to go from 1G to 5G in such a relatively short amount of time, so 6G is just the natural progression towards faster and better wireless connectivity.” Once developed, 6G most likely will involve using ultrahigh frequencies (millimeter waves) of the radio spectrum. It might eventually approach the upper limits...

“Key fundamentals remain strong” in the U.S. multifamily amid a flattening of average asking rents in September, according to a new national multifamily report from Yardi® Matrix. The $1,718 rate, unchanged from August, reflects the impact of the economic slowdown and Fed interest rate hikes. Year-over-year rent growth slid more than a full percentage point for the third month in a row, bringing it below 10% for the first time since July 2021. National asking rents remain at record highs and occupancy rates holding steady at around 96% since June 2021, although “the market may be coming to an end of its extraordinary run of rent growth,” the report says. Average national asking rents in the single-family rental segment fell by $7 to $2,081 in September, the second consecutive month of decline, while year-over-year growth fell 170 basis points to 7.8%. The sector’s outlook remains robust, the report says, because many prospective homebuyers who are priced out of the market turn to single-family rentals. Read the full report for insight into the impact of supply, demand, demographics, employment, migration and more on the multifamily market. The September report includes two new features – lease renewal percentages and renewal rent growth, and rent-to-income ratios – that will be included in future monthly reports. Yardi Matrix offers the industry’s most comprehensive market intelligence tool for investment professionals, equity investors, lenders and property managers who underwrite and manage investments in commercial real estate. Yardi Matrix covers multifamily, student housing, industrial, office and self storage property types. Email [email protected], call (480) 663-1149 or visit yardimatrix.com to learn...

Yardi is committed to supporting the community in every city where our offices are housed. Each year, the company distributes philanthropic aid to organizations selected by its employees. In 2021, Yardi offices supported more than 350 nonprofits worldwide. For the remainder of the year, we will be bringing you the stories of those organizations and insight into how they aid their communities. Today, let’s meet Atlanta’s Giving Kitchen, which provides emergency assistance to foodservice workers through financial support and a network of community resources. Since 2013, Giving Kitchen has stepped up to help financially when foodservice workers face unanticipated crisis due to illness (including COVID-19), accident, injury, housing disaster from fire or flood or death of an immediate family member. “Giving Kitchen is a crisis mitigation resource for food service workers. We focus on homelessness prevention, mental and physical health support, and disaster aid,” said Amy Crowell, Corporate and Foundation Relations Manager for the nonprofit. In 2022, Giving Kitchen expects to serve 2,700 food service workers in crisis and provide a minimum of $2.1 million in financial assistance to food service workers. “Funding from Yardi will go directly to providing financial assistance to food service workers facing an unanticipated crisis,” said Crowell. “These clients and their families will be given the gift of not having to worry about keeping their home (76 percent of clients are concerned with potential eviction) and instead, can focus on getting through their crisis. Clients facing illness or injury can focus on getting well and not returning to work too soon. The children in these homes will get to stay home with their parents coping with a crisis – not forced to move, not forced to live out of a hotel, not forced to change school districts.” The food...

During construction of an office building, apartment building, highway, water project, cell phone tower or other development, builders have to think about more than materials, project milestones and building codes. What if there’s a historic or prehistoric structure or site within the project’s footprint? Provo, Utah, USA downtown on Center Street at dusk. The U.S. encompasses thousands of years of American and Native American history. When a relic is discovered, various federal, state and local laws require the site to be examined for historical or cultural merits and for preservation measures to be determined and completed. In collaboration with planning authorities and archeological advisors, developers might excavate the site prior to construction, preserve it in situ or redesign the project. “Modern infrastructure such as underground car parks or urban transport systems can be very destructive if they do not take account of the buried heritage. Newly constructed buildings and specifically, tall offices, will often have foundations and services that impact on below ground archaeological deposits to a much greater extent than any building in the past centuries,” Jim Williams, senior science advisor for Historic England, which champions the protection of the country’s historic environment, stated in a paper he coauthored with colleague Mike Corfield. In 2015, for example, 100-year-old human remains were unearthed by construction workers in New York City during a routine water main replacement project. (The main was rerouted around them.) When a historic warehouse and elements of the city’s old Chinatown were found during the construction of America West Arena (now Footprint Center) in Phoenix, the city, the Chinese community, private funders, Arizona’s historic preservation office and developers agreed to save the warehouse for reuse as an athletic club and display the excavated artifacts in the arena, the home of the...

Yardi is committed to supporting the community in every city where our offices are housed. Each year, the company distributes philanthropic aid to organizations selected by its employees. In 2021, Yardi offices supported more than 350 nonprofits worldwide. For the remainder of the year, we will be bringing you the stories of those organizations and insight into how they aid their communities. Today, we highlight Triangle Residential Options for Substance Abusers, Inc. (TROSA), a Durham-based nonprofit that rebuilds lives, reconnects families, and strengthens communities. Founded in 1994, TROSA is an innovative, licensed, multi-year residential program that empowers men and women with substance use disorders to be productive, recovering individuals by providing comprehensive treatment, experiential vocational training, education, and continuing care. “We are unique in providing our services for up to two years. We provide free housing, meals, clothing, health services, counseling, vocational and life skills training, peer mentorship, education, and professional advancement, and more to a daily average of 400 men and women in our care,” said Kristin Pearson, Communications Director. As TROSA residents approach their two-year program graduation date, they have the opportunity to take advantage of graduate program services. These services include transitional housing, support groups, and transportation to places of employment. “We help prepare individuals for a life in recovery by providing a network of support services and mentorship, with an emphasis on behavior change strategies and life skills development. By providing our services at no cost, individuals can focus on recovery and the changes they want to make in their lives,” Pearson explained. Susan’s story of recovery At age 12, Susan started using drugs and alcohol, and she dropped out of school in the eighth grade. For decades, addiction was at the center of Susan’s life. She was using heroin,...

Yardi is committed to supporting the community in every city where our offices are housed. Each year, the company distributes philanthropic aid to organizations selected by its employees. In 2021, Yardi offices supported more than 350 nonprofits worldwide. For the remainder of the year, we will be bringing you the stories of those organizations and insight into how they aid their communities. Today, we bring you the story of CitySquare, a nonprofit that fights the causes and effects of poverty through service, advocacy, and friendship in Dallas, Texas. In 2021, CitySquare provided service to over 59,000 Dallas residents. They own over 700 affordable housing units and operate one of the largest food pantries in Dallas. CitySquare also collaborates with the city’s largest hospitals to provide primary care services to residents of their housing units. “Our innovative and neighbor-centered approach wholly addresses an individual’s or family’s complicated situation, as opposed to providing one single, disconnected service at a time,” says Sarah Cantu, Chief Development Officer of CitySquare. CitySquare offers a comprehensive array of social services that address four key areas related to the persistence of poverty: hunger, health, housing, and hope. CitySquare is prioritizing these six areas in the year to come: homeless and housing solutions, food access, financial empowerment, health equity, legal services, and foster youth services. Funds from Yardi have helped to support CitySquare’s work in each of these areas, allowing them to touch thousands of lives. “CitySquare is focused on connecting neighbors to affordable housing opportunities and legal services are working with our housed neighbors who are struggling with the threat of eviction,” shares Cantu. “Within food access, we are prioritizing a client choice model for shopping for food from our pantry and offering a mobile food pantry for those who are...

Congratulations are in order! We’re pleased to recognize Brightview Senior Living, a wonderful Yardi client, for two recent achievements that highlight their dedication to residents and employees. Congrats to Brightview for earning a place on People Magazine’s Companies That Care® list for the second year in a row, as well as being named the number one Fortune Best Workplace in Aging Services™ for the fourth consecutive year. Brightview earns People Magazine accolade To earn a place on People Magazine’s Companies That Care list, organizations need to go above and beyond in more ways than one. Leaders must ensure they’re honoring employees, uplifting their communities and ultimately, striving to make the world a better place. That criteria comes directly from People in describing the 2022 list. Brightview surely meets that criteria, as they’ve spent over 20 years creating an exceptional environment for their employees and residents. This is the second consecutive year they’ve earned a place on the list, and they’re the only senior living company that’s been recognized. “This highly competitive ranking features 100 U.S. companies across all industries, and we are honored to be the only senior living company recognized,” shared Brightview on LinkedIn. “We are proud to be named as an organization that genuinely puts people first.” Plus the #1 place on Fortune’s esteemed list It’s pretty exciting to earn not one, but two exceptional accolades that highlight a commitment to care, service and staff. For Brightview, that includes the number one place on Fortune’s Best Workplaces in Aging Services list. To build the 2022 list, Fortune analyzed data from more than 140,000 employees in the senior living industry. From those surveys, over 90% of Brightview associates reported feeling welcome at the company, and they believe their work has special meaning. This...

Glitzy architecture wins awards, high-profile tenants burnish reputations and energy conservation measures earn kudos for commercial properties. But there’s another aspect of the business that’s not quite so charismatic but every bit as important to maintaining asset value and reputation – pest control. Pest control contractor working in the flat Such creatures as mice, rats, flies, ants, cockroaches, termites, spiders and pigeons can cause serious damage in electrical or boiler rooms, walls, and public and worker spaces. Gnawing rodents, for example, contaminate surfaces, increase fire risk by damaging wiring and equipment, transmit disease and aggravate allergies. Swarms of some ant species can also cause power disruptions. Bird droppings can corrode paint and materials. Aside from being damaging, these outcomes aren’t pleasant sights for occupants, customers and visitors. Steps to avoiding such damage includes keeping pests out of a facility, eliminating breeding sites and applying pesticides when necessary. The fact that many commercial businesses share walls and common spaces such as lobbies and break areas makes dealing with this issue a collaborative effort. “A successful pest management program depends on a strong partnership between the building’s management, occupants and a pest control professional. Effective communication between management, the maintenance staff and occupants is the key to success in any pest control program,” notes Abra Kadabra Environmental Services of Mound, Minn. Here are some tips from Abra Kadabra, Hero Pest Control in Robinson, Texas, and Britain-based Rentokil Initial that can help commercial property owners protect occupant health, worker productivity, business performance and their reputation: Inspect facilities, including roofs, for cracks, holes or other openings. Repair all damage promptly and seal openings.Educate employees about keeping work areas clean, proper trash disposal and other good sanitation practices.Install window screens and replace torn or missing ones.Place weather-stripping around exterior...

Yardi is committed to supporting the community in every city where our offices are housed. Each year, the company distributes philanthropic aid to organizations selected by its employees. In 2021, Yardi offices supported more than 350 nonprofits worldwide. For the remainder of the year, we will be bringing you the stories of those organizations and insight into how they aid their communities. Today, learn about Standing Together to End Sexual Assault (STESA), a nonprofit and social change organization established in 1974. STESA is working toward eliminating oppression and sexual violence in Santa Barbara, Calif.  STESA transforms lives and empowers people through healing and social change to eliminate all forms of sexual assault. “We work within a model of empowerment to facilitate the healing process of survivors of sexual assault and their loved ones. Staff and volunteers create social change by educating the community about the incidence and impact of sexual assault in our lives,” shares Elsa Granados, Executive Director of STESA. STESA’s core programming has developed strategic goals and objectives in service to its mission for the future. Its goals include: Ensuring a strong financial position and exploring how the board and finance committee can become more involved in fundraising.Stabilize staffing within its three vacancies. Filling positions such as training coordinator, office manager, and program director.Purchasing a new facility since their current lease is up in 2025. STESA wants to offer a safe space for their clients since most do not have privacy at home for telehealth. Due to the pandemic, STESA is not qualified for many support programs so funding from Yardi has been essential to keeping the doors open and services functioning. “Yardi’s support has helped STESA gain leverage from others since Yardi is known and well respected in the community,” said...

Average self storage street rates reduced slightly in August, according to the latest National Self Storage Report from Yardi Matrix. A national average overall street rate of $149 was recorded. Despite moderating street rate performance, demand continues to be strong. The new self storage report focuses on areas of demand for storage units, which include apartment renters and Gen X (late 30s to 50s) customers. “Gen Xers are among the biggest users of storage, with 44 percent reporting use of storage units and 21 percent planning to use it in the near future. But even as an increasing number of households use self storage, we expect to see further moderation of street rates the rest of this year,” states the report. Storage owners remain focused on growing rents of existing customers, relying on demand for the service that grew significantly in 2021. Secondary markets experiencing rapid population growth continue to lead in street rate gains. For 10×10 non-climate-controlled (NON CC) units, eight of the top 31 metros had street rate increases greater than five percent in August, while rates decreased in seven metros. Year-over-year street rate growth continues to decelerate. Nationwide, the overall average street rate, which includes all unit sizes and types, grew 1.4 percent year-over-year in August, a 130-basis-point drop from July’s annual growth rate and a 280-basis-point drop from the rate in June. Learn more about the state of the self storage market nationwide. Yardi Matrix tracks a total of 4,203 self storage properties nationwide in various stages of development — including 1,594 planned, 760 under construction and 515 prospective properties. Matrix also maintains operational profiles for 28,719 completed self storage facilities across the United States, bringing the total data set to 32,922. Yardi Matrix offers the industry’s most comprehensive market intelligence...

Yardi is committed to supporting the community in every city where our offices are housed. Each year, the company distributes philanthropic aid to organizations selected by its employees. In 2021, Yardi offices supported more than 350 nonprofits worldwide. For the remainder of the year, we will be bringing you the stories of those organizations and insight into how they aid their communities. Today we are hearing from the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation of Santa Barbara, Calif., a nonprofit that assists with finances, emotional support, and educational advocacy for families that are helping their child battle cancer. “TBCF is a unique cancer support organization, not just because we give the most amount of direct financial assistance than any other pediatric cancer support organization, but because we truly invest time in getting to know our families and being a source of support for them from the point of diagnosis, to after treatment ends,” says Brittany Avila Wazny, senior development director at TBCF. Last year TBFC started a program called “Dream Big” in which they help families to go from surviving to thriving. Wazny shares, “We are creating a new strategic plan that will lay out how we will bring dreams to life. We are already making dreams for couples and individual counseling happen, beginning with a pilot program in partnership with Family Services Agency, which will start this fall.” Wazny continues, “We want our families to know that they are not alone in a journey that can feel very isolating. Pediatric cancer comes with so many challenges beyond fighting for your child’s life, and we want our families to be supported with meaningful support through each challenge; we are grateful that Yardi understands the importance of these needs and continues to support our mission!” Funds from...

A group of Yardi employees met in Atlanta late this summer for a first-of-its-kind staff summit. The gathering was an opportunity for the team to share challenges, successes, and plans to optimize Yardi’s new Core Relief suite of products. The weeklong event brought together Yardi project managers, case supervisors, file auditors, service managers, payment processors, call center agents and legal staff. This contingent of Yardi employees began developing, marketing and implementing Yardi Relief software and service solutions in early 2021. “I am so proud of this entire department! This team is extremely passionate about our Relief suite and the impact it means to our communities.” said Elisabeth Daniels, director for Yardi. Rent Relief was the first product from the suite released by Yardi. Rent Relief simplifies and streamlines how state, county and city housing agencies implement Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) funds. ERAP funds are tied to economic recovery legislation enacted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rent Relief has processed more than $1.3B in payments to households who used the Yardi solution to qualify for assistance. “ERAP’s success depends on quickly qualifying renters and landlords in need of economic assistance due to financial hardship during the pandemic. Rent Relief enables our clients to quickly and securely collect applications, determine eligibility and disburse payments to landlords, renters and utility companies. We have leveraged the success of Rent Relief to expand our Relief solution and support other direct-to-beneficiary programs,” said Daniels. The Yardi Relief Suite now includes Mortgage Relief, designed for states that have been granted funds to assist homeowners in financial need due to the pandemic. Similarly, Utility Relief is a management solution for programs that help residents behind on utility payments. The final piece of the suite is Core Relief, which is available...