The atmosphere surrounding the commercial use of drones is steeped in anticipation. It is like the seconds before a race starts: runners take their stance, the audience holds a collective breath, and the earth stands still. For years, though, there has been no burst of gunfire, no bolt towards the finish line–just anticipation. Technology advances but regulation hinders its application. The drone industry took off to a faint whistle around 2010 and has been meandering forward ever since. Here is what we have so far and what we can expect before 2020. The Hurdles We Have Overcome Before summer 2016, only one law guided policy makers about landowners’ rights to airspace. It was written in 1946 as the result of United States v. Causby. At that time, a farmer sued the government of ruining his quality of life: day and night for months, fighter planes took off less than 80 feet above his house. The court ruled in Causby’s favor. Landowners received the rights to airspace within the “immediate reaches above the land” that they owned. Aircraft operators could not interfere with “an intrusion so immediate and direct as to subtract from the owner’s full enjoyment of the property.” With that ruling, the airspace up to 80 feet above private property gained protection from planes and other flying nuisances. Existing Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations forbids aircraft from operating less than 500 feet above any person, vehicle, or structure. Fast forward to today. The FAA is scrambling to figure out what happens between 80-500 feet. This airspace is the hotly debated drone territory. The Hurdles that Stand Ahead The FAA has been slow to pull the trigger on definitive regulation for commercial drones. The few provisions made in the summer of 2016 prohibit large-scale drone usage. Most small-scale applications are still questionable. Local governments and businesses have taken drone regulation into their own hands. To date, nearly 20 states have passed laws on the use of drones. For example, in Northampton, Mass. landowners gained rights to the airspace up to 500 feet above their properties. St. Bonifaciuos, Minn. rejected drones altogether. Some organizations have invented their own rules. The conglomerate owners of South by Southwest forbid the use of drones during its festival in 2016. PGA, Masters, and U.S. Open sporting events have passed similar provisions against drone usage (with few exceptions for vendors). While the FAA doesn’t recognize such local rules, commercial drone operators can still face legal penalties for a lack of compliance. Regardless of FAA and local regulations on drones, existing noise and nuisance laws may interfere with commercial drone operations over private property. It is clear that commercial drone operators face a myriad of unclear yet legally binding regulations. The murky path makes it impossible to responsibly use drones on a commercial level. Endless Possibilities The demand for drone services and drone technology continues to advance. Drone deliveries are only the tip of the iceberg. Harvard Business Review projects that the worldwide drone market will generate $7 billion by 2020. It cites big-data analytics as one of the biggest potential moneymakers. The brokering of drone services is another potential cash cow. Commercial owners collaborate with brokers to determine how to effectively integrate drone services. Drone brokers may also connect corporations with fleets and their operators. The possibilities expand beyond deliveries including but not limited to: Mapping and surveying Residential, commercial, and infrastructure inspection APP and software development for professional and recreational use Private investigation Aerial advertisements Commercial operators must overcome notable hurdles before realizing their potential with drones. Without clear guidance from the FAA, commercial users are hamstrung by the diverse rulings of local governments and organizations. Increased social and political pressure on the FAA may be the only thing that can prompt regulation and open the doors to commercial drone...
Package Prep
Drones, Lockers and More
From smart lockers to drone landing pads, multifamily prepares for the quickly evolving future o f e-commerce and deliveries. Alan Gershenhorn, chief commercial officer at UPS, reviewed the latest online sales data during a panel discussion with the National Multihousing Council: Brick-and-mortar retail has grown at approximately 2 percent each year. In comparison, e-commerce has grown in the teens. In 2015, online sales grew by 14.6 percent according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Nearly half of UPS deliveries go to residences, continues Gershenhorn. As delivery quantities increase, multifamily leadership faces a series of challenges. Currently, delivered packages sit at the threshold of the residence where it is exposed to damage from the elements and at risk of theft. A missing package reflects poorly on the community and resident satisfaction scores. Within some multifamily communities, the package is delivered to the leasing office staff or concierge. This method poses an additional burden to staff members that are now accountable for the package. Staff must have adequate space to store the parcels, which can be anything from a tiny jewelry box to furniture and appliances. The staff must also find favorable conditions in which to store the packages. Food delivery and other perishable items require climate control. Multifamily leaders eagerly explore cost-effective solutions to their delivery and storage challenges. The ideal solution would offer security, flexible space, and perhaps even a degree of insulation. In terms of costs, having residents handle their own packages is a clear choice. The courier industry offers several self-serve options that limit the accountability of multifamily staff: UPS My Choice and FedEx Delivery Manager allow users to determine their delivery preferences, such as time and date. Users receive notifications of the package’s progress. UPS Access Point program relies on third-party...
AIM Highlights
Multifamily Marketing
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. – in a competitive Washington D.C. multifamily market, WC Smith released a secret weapon to lease up its 2M property in NoMa: an adorable, social media-savvy English bulldog puppy. “Everyone loves pets (in D.C.), but no one has time to take care of them,” said Holli Beckman, Vice President of Marketing and Leasing Operations for WC Smith. Beckman was speaking on a panel focused on creative lease up strategy on Day Two of the 2015 Apartment Internet Marketing Conference. Joined by Billy Pettit, Senior Vice President of Pillar Properties, and Gianna Negretti, Marketing Account Director at Alliance Residential, the panelists broke down ways to use social media, local business relationships, blogger influence and location as advantageous resources. Beckman impressed the crowd with the story of Emmy the 2M pup (pictured), who not only acts as a therapy dog for residents of the 2M community, but helped the leasing team get national media attention for the property when a story about her escalated from the D.C. blogosphere to the Huffington Post and the Today Show. But more important from a leasing perspective, the publicity helped Beckman and her team lease 2M without offering rental concessions, which many competing properties in the neighborhood were using to entice prospects. Emmy now has nearly 2,000 followers on Instagram and continues to spend her days in the 2M leasing office and nights with the property manager. Residents in need of puppy time can “borrow” her for an hour for a walk or a visit to the on-site dog park. Capitalizing on a location that may have seemed less than ideal, Pettit shared the approach that Pillar Properties took to lease up Stadium Place, a 500 unit development next to the Seahawks Stadium, but also adjacent to...
