Amenity Focused

Veritas Investments

By Joel Nelson on Jun 28, 2016 in People

Veritas Investments might be small in some ways, but it stands tall in creative customer service.

San Francisco-based Veritas specializes in owning and managing classic, character-rich apartment buildings with 20 to 30 units, as well as their ground-floor retail sections.  With limited space at its properties, Veritas employs imaginative ways to grab attention in a keenly competitive marketplace.  “We don’t have onsite fitness centers or business centers or dog wash stations that some larger properties have,” says Justin Sato, chief operating officer for Veritas, a Yardi client.  “So we use a number of partnerships and amenities to market our units in ways that aren’t traditional and which are eco-friendly.”

“Today’s renter has a very on-demand driven mindset and concern for the environment,” he added.  “In the era of Uber and order food online, they expect everything to be moments away through their mobile phones.  And being ‘green’ is a core value to many.  We stay attuned to that demand with our partnerships and promotion of cool, tech-savvy amenities.”

SF’s Largest Solar Energy User

Sustainability-minded rental prospects can find kinship with Veritas’ status as the largest deployer of solar-generated electricity among multifamily property owners in San Francisco.  “For people to whom that’s a big factor in their leasing decision, we can differentiate our properties with the fact that we power about 20 of our 200 buildings through solar electricity.  We’ve made an effort to install solar panels on our roofs whenever possible to supplement our electricity needs—and to market the fact that even Victorian apartments can reduce their carbon footprint,” Sato says.

Veritas’ solar energy system includes channeling electricity generated on the roof to battery packs in the basement parking stalls that can charge electric vehicles.  Unused energy can be fed back to the power grid so other building owners can benefit from Veritas’ energy efficiency.  “If we have a sunny day and not a lot of usage, we can sell the power back to the utility company,” Sato says.

Zipping Around

The comparatively small size of Veritas’ apartment communities spurs other resident-friendly collaborations.  For example, the company boasts the city’s largest fleet of cars sponsored by car-sharing service Zipcar.  Veritas’ partnerships with Zipcar, electric scooter provider Scoot and on-demand valet service Luxe offer mobility in a city where residential parking is one of the scarcest, and costliest, commodities.  “We help our residents be fully functional without owning a car,” Sato says.

Suppose residents just want to stay home and do chores?  Veritas has them covered too.  “Some residences don’t have in-unit washers and dryers.  If residents don’t want to use the community appliances downstairs, they can subscribe to Laundry Locker or Wash, which collect garments, clean them offsite and return them the next day,” Sato said.

Veritas established a partners page within its RentCafe online marketing, leasing and resident services platform that gives residents easy access to discounts and specials.

Focus on Efficiency

Just as it adapted its marketing approach to match renters’ shifting priorities, Veritas has adjusted its business model to stay current with the times.  “When the company began in 2007 we adopted an investment-minded approach to growth.  As our portfolio expanded our property management needs intensified, so we’ve spent the last two years or so being hyper-focused on getting better on the management side.”

The emphasis on efficiency includes performing multiple operations within Veritas’ Yardi Voyager property management and accounting platform, including invoice processing, maintenance management, online unit marketing and resident services, and utility billing management.

Veritas’ renewed focus on improving service and management has paid dividends, including five awards for property management excellence from the San Francisco Apartment Assn. in February 2016.  “We still have lots on our to-do list but we’ve made great strides and it was nice to be publicly recognized,” Sato says, adding that bringing innovation and eco-friendly practices to Veritas’ properties helps differentiate the firm to renters and improves back-office operations.

“It’s all about the resident, after all,” Sato said.  “We think that the improvements, whether direct resident amenities or internal operational enhancements, all contribute to the customer experience in meaningful ways.”