Love was in the air across senior living communities this Valentine’s Day, including the communities of our amazing clients! So if you’re a fan of heartwarming stories, you’re in the right place. We hope you’ll take a moment to see how these communities made this love-filled day special. Valentine’s Day in senior living We’re loving how our senior living clients celebrated Valentine’s Day this year, whether they organized festive activities or celebrated resident lovebirds. From blogs to social media posts highlighting charming moments, we’re happy to be resharing it all:  Pacifica Senior Living put together a blog post sharing how their communities celebrated Valentine’s Day — and they spotlighted the relationships their residents cherish. Take Joyce and Joanne from their Laguna Hills community, two sisters who have maintained a loving relationship since their early days. From attending nursing school together to now residing in the same Pacifica apartment, these two lovely ladies enjoy spending quality time together each day. Read the Pacifica post to learn about Joyce and Joanne, plus see more Valentine’s stories featuring Pacifica residents. At Maplewood Senior Living, one resident couple brought the Valentine’s Day spirit by reflecting on their lifetime of love. Residing in Maplewood at Princeton, residents Vicki and Marty have been together “forever” (as quoted by Vicki in Maplewood’s blog post). The post delves into their journey individually and as a couple — sharing everything that led them through decades of love. Read Maplewood’s post for all the feels, and to see then-and-now photos of Vicki and Marty.   Continuing with the theme of long-lasting love, check out this video featuring Benchmark Senior Living residents. As shared on Benchmark’s LinkedIn, the video shows how residents Dave and Pauline celebrated 25 years together by renewing their vows. The two...

To ring in the new year among our senior living team, we’re doing one of our favorite posts — one that features our senior living clients! That is, we’re highlighting clients’ positive stories and celebrations from the 2022 holiday season. We hope these bits of magical, holiday wonder help you start the new year off with a smile. Holiday momentum in senior living At various Maplewood Senior Living communities, the holiday season was filled with creative activities for residents. We’re talking classics like wreath-making and Christmas tree decorating, all the way to an educational class on official White House ornaments. Maplewood also shared one community’s participation in a local holiday toy drive in which residents, families and staff donated to gift to children in need. You can find cheerful photos from each holiday event on Maplewood’s LinkedIn page. Benchmark Senior Living partook in quite a few holiday activities, too. You can see for yourself in this carousel of photos on Benchmark’s social media, which features things like community decorating and residents singing around the piano. Our personal favorite might be this compilation of holiday cookie recipes Benchmark shared, featuring their residents’ top picks. We may have to save these for baking year-round! Residents at a Watercrest Senior Living community enjoyed a holiday feast with loved ones this Christmas season, before heading for horse-drawn carriage rides. Did we mention hot cocoa and freshly-baked cookies were involved? There may not be any horses spotted in their social media collage, but you’ll see another surprise visitor (think red suit, white beard) enjoying the evening with residents. The community even did a second round of this event, pictured on LinkedIn as well. Tapping into the magic of Christmas Eve, check out this video shared by Brightview Senior Living,...

How can property owners meet the growing demand for environmental, social and governance performance accountability from residents, tenants and investors? Yardi client representatives who lead ESG reporting for their organizations and an official from GRESB, the ESG benchmark for real estate assets, recently offered some insight. Juliette Apicella, director of sustainability for Atlanta-based apartment owner and manager Gables Residential Services, was one of three industry experts who appeared on a YASC Global panel. “More investors are interested in details about our ESG policies and achievements,” she said. That prompted the company to use ESG as “a tool that helps us monitor our assets’ environmental performance as a driver of returns.” Gables has stepped up its recruitment of employees, partners and residents in the effort to incorporate environmental priorities into its operations. Another panelist, Jennifer Plesnicar, vice president for Chicago-area industrial developer and manager CenterPoint Properties Trust, sounded a similar note: “ESG is becoming more important each year” among multiple company stakeholders. “How a company responds to ESG expectations can impact operations ranging from borrowing rates to talent attraction and tenant retention,” she said. The widespread attention to ESG is “pushing the real estate industry forward,” said the third panelist, Dan Winters, head of Americas for GRESB, which collects and validates data and disseminates it to more than 150 institutional real estate investors around the world. “Getting accurate ESG data, rolling it up to the portfolio level and sharing it with the industry increases insight for a company, which appeals to its institutional investors, and also provides better outcomes for GRESB participants.” Overcoming data gathering challenges All panelists agreed that the principal challenge to managing an organization’s ESG performance is gathering, tracking and disseminating the consumption data necessary to formulate ESG actions. “A lot of...

Five Yardi® clients earned Digie Awards, one of the highest honors in the commercial real estate industry, at the recent Realcomm | IBCon 2021 event. Short for Commercial Real Estate Digital Innovation, Digies recognize outstanding companies, real estate projects, technologies and the next generation of smart, connected, high-performance, intelligent building systems. Digies are also awarded to individuals who have positively impacted the industry through the application of technology, automation and innovation. This year, Realcomm focused on honoring those who are “leading the charge on COVID-19 strategic and transformational technologies, creating a more efficient, effective and adaptive industry and shaping the future of smart buildings.” Among this year’s winners were the following Yardi clients: QuadReal Property Group won the Most Intelligent Portfolio, Office award, in recognition of their “smart, connected, high performance intelligent building concepts.” In recognition of their “extraordinary level of automation, technology and innovation to their business processes,” The Inland Real Estate Group of Companies won the Best Use of Automation, Retail Real Estate, JLL won the Best Use of Automation, Commercial Services and Invesco won the Best Use of Automation, Investment Management. Ilan Zachar, Senior Vice President & CTO, Carr Properties won the Realcomm Julie Devine Digital Impact Award that acknowledges “those individuals who saw things ahead of their associates, had the courage to leave the mainstream and the tenacity to keep standing up after many failed attempts.” Zachar directs all corporate technology, strategy, and standards for Carr Properties. “Yardi is impressed with the extraordinary achievements of the companies and standout individuals who are shaping the future of the industry through transformational technology. We applaud all the award winners and look forward to what we can achieve together as an industry moving forward,” said Rob Teel, senior vice president of global solutions for Yardi. Teel was a...

It hasn’t been an easy year, especially for senior living providers. But that hasn’t stopped certain employers from empowering their staff. Fortune has announced the Best Workplaces for Aging Services™ 2021 — recognizing companies in residential senior living and care. Fortune partners with Great Place to Work® and Activated Insights to select and honor each workplace. The recognition doesn’t come easy, either. To be certified as a Great Place to Work®, providers have to survey their employees using a 60-question trust index survey. If 70% of employees confirm the workplace’s greatness, their employer earns the Great Place to Work® honor. This year’s survey collected feedback from over 220,000 employees working in senior living across the U.S. The selected providers include 25 large workplaces, 25 small to medium employers and 15 home care companies. So which providers landed a spot on this year’s list? We’re excited to spotlight several deserving Yardi clients who have created exceptional work environments for their employees:   Brightview Senior LivingSilverado Senior LivingThe Springs LivingRetirement Center ManagementAegis LivingContinuing LifeSagora Senior LivingMBK Senior LivingBenchmark Senior LivingSenior Resource GroupSummit VistaCascadia Senior LivingDominion Senior Living And these providers don’t just maintain great work environments for their employees. Each organization is committed to providing the best resident care, which surely contributes to their staff feeling motivated, fulfilled and united.   To read what employees said about their prospective workplace, check out the full Great Place to Work® list. We’re proud to provide integrated senior living management software that helps these organizations create a foundation for success.   Senior living thrives on Yardi The Yardi Senior Living Suite is a single connected solution that eliminates the gap between senior living property management and clinical services. The range of products — united on a single platform —...

What should leaders and investors consider when selecting a business intelligence (BI) solution for senior living? That’s the topic of an upcoming webinar sponsored by Yardi and hosted by McKnight’s Senior Living. The webinar, Differentiators in Business Intelligence Technology, will feature industry experts across senior living. This includes: Trey Allen, Yardi Support Specialist, Dominion Senior LivingMichael Bowles, Project Coordinator, Dial Senior Living Through an informative discussion, attendees will access the tools, tips and insights needed to choose an effective BI solution — and learn how to maximize their use of BI technology. More specifically, attendees will learn:     How business intelligence reduces workloads and helps visualize data Key factors to consider when selecting BI software for senior livingAn analysis of Yardi Senior IQ, a single connected BI solution, plus client testimonials The webinar will take place on June 16 at 1 p.m. EDT. Want to learn more about selecting the right BI solution for senior living? Register for the webinar. Looking for additional resources on business intelligence? Explore Yardi’s ebook, Differentiators in BI...

What’s the formula for promoting a tech-friendly culture in an organization? We asked four leaders in Canadian real estate for their insights as part of the Yardi Canada “Canadian Trailblazers” series. Olivier Rocheleau, corporate controller for Groupe Petra, identifies showcasing upper management’s willingness to innovate, recruiting support within the company and instilling strong change management skills as the principal elements. “Everything starts with upper management understanding the need and benefits of technology, not just its cost. Business will see a decline in profitability and lose valued employees who are tired of working with outdated tools, if changes are not made during these times,” he says. At the same time, he notes, employees are usually the best sources of insight into the shortcomings of the current tech situation and processes. Sandeep Manak, CFO for Wesgroup Properties, concurs. “Get the president or chairman to use new tech” as the first adopters and to lead by example, he advises. Sarah Segal, director of real estate for Informa Connect, manager of the Canadian Real Estate Forums, considers formulating a strong vision for the future, nurturing cultural evolution and displaying a willingness to go the extra mile as the principal ingredients of successful tech adoption. “A team that sees potential in a pivot, expansion or improvement will dig in to see it happen,” she says. Creativity is another key attribute, she adds, with ingraining out-of-the-box thinkers in the company culture and openness to new ideas being among the top elements necessary to forge an environment that encourages constructive change to thrive. Michael Brooks, CEO of REALPAC, notes that the pandemic accelerated the adoption of technology, from new and pre-existing in the market. This includes videoconferencing platforms, messaging apps, digital contracts, paperless banking, shared creation and management of documents and...

As a company grows, it can be challenging to maintain a personal connection with the communities that it serves. When two international chains and a national housing provider behave like good neighbors, communities take note. CVS, Walgreens and EAH Housing have teamed up to provide in-house immunizations for seniors and other vulnerable groups. Rapid changes in senior living communities Seniors have faced unique challenges during the pandemic. To protect vulnerable residents, senior housing providers were required to cancel conventional family visits, group excursions and most daily outings. With ample creativity, staff members helped seniors thrive during quarantine. But undoubtedly, seniors missed time with their families and trips outside of the community. Additionally, seniors had to embrace technology in new ways. Seniors are a tech savvy bunch, and technology adaptation comes with health benefits. The new approach to health care, however, replaced many in-person office visits with telehealth options. Seniors again found themselves on unfamiliar terrain. The COVID-19 vaccine could save lives. It would also provide a safe way for seniors to resume a somewhat normal lifestyle. But with cases on the rise, venturing outside of their communities to access the vaccine posed risks of its own. Senior housing providers such as EAH Housing sought means to bring vaccinations to residents. CVS, Walgreens, and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) answered the call. Walgreens and CVS answer the call to serve seniors Yardi client and affordable housing provider EAH Housing recently announced that residents are receiving Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccinations. The initiative is part of an immunization clinic provided by Walgreens and CVS. Residents and staff of Reflections at Barbara Ann in North Hollywood were among the first recipients of the vaccine in January. This month, the site completes the second dose of the program. Reflections...

Industry leaders from Grubb Properties and MG Properties Group recently shared insights on big data, benchmarking and forecasting with Yardi’s Paul Yount. “You won’t be successful in any market if you don’t have the right tools. You need the data. You have to be ready and prepared,” said Joe Anfuso, chief financial officer at MG Properties Group. Nothing could have been truer for real estate companies in 2020. With unanticipated challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, real estate operators had to act fast to protect their bottom lines and keep staff and residents safe. For most companies, that meant adopting technology to transform their businesses. Read on to learn how Grubb Properties and MG Properties Group have been using Asset IQ, Yardi’s multifamily asset management software part of the Yardi Elevate suite of multifamily solutions, to guide decisions and improve performance with better data. Pivoting to online services With the growing demand for contactless leasing and transactions, many operators have made the pivot to doing business online. And it’s likely that contactless leasing — including self-guided tours — will be around long after the pandemic. Additionally, asset intelligence driven by big data has been guiding real estate operators through challenging times and will continue to lead the way. “2020 budget numbers were very different from what we projected in 2019. We didn’t see the normal seasonal changes, and budgets were pretty much out the window which has made competitor and peer data very important to accurately measure performance. We need to know how we’re measuring up to our competitors, what concessions and lease terms we’re offering and if we’re keeping the back door closed to avoid being in a vulnerable position,” said Shawn Cardner, executive vice president of Grubb Properties. According to Joe Anfuso,...

Yardi’s November Executive Briefing brought together a collection of industry leaders to discuss current trends and solutions to mitigate a year of unique challenges. As part of the session, Yardi senior vice president of global solutions, Rob Teel, provided an update on some of Yardi’s current initiatives and what trends are driving Yardi’s efforts moving forward. The company is underwriting a major tenant survey with BOMA which received over 3,000 responses. The survey responses will be revealed in the coming weeks and there will be upcoming webinars with BOMA to review and analyze the findings, such as the likelihood for commercial tenants to renew, factors driving their renewal decisions and factors driving office occupancy levels. Teel noted that some of the prevalent industry trends this year are topics he’s rarely had to deal with, such as concern over rent deferrals and concessions. Yardi’s response was to create a new product called Lease Manager, which helps landlords better manage tenant risk and overall portfolio health. In addition, with a focus on removing touchpoints, Yardi felt it was key to help clients eliminate paper from their day-to-day operations. To do so, there was a corporate initiative to promote products such as VendorCafe and CommercialCafe, which make it easy to electronically submit payments, vendor invoices, tenant invoices and any other documents which normally would have required mailing or submitting paperwork. The industrial, retail and office sectors have all been affected differently by the global pandemic. Industrial has become the “shining area of commercial,” Teel noted, thanks to a large spike in e-commerce growth and demand staying steady along with occupancy and rent. On the flip side, retail has naturally seen more challenges with less foot traffic, shutdowns varying by jurisdiction and higher vacancy rates. This has led...

The Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference began in 1999 with about 200 guests in attendance. YASC eventually encompassed six events on four continents dedicated to giving real estate professionals in-depth training in Yardi property and investment management software. There were always plenty of networking opportunities and fun as well. COVID-19 diminished in-person meetings this year but not the YASC mission. Yardi kept the tradition going in May, hosting a digital version in lieu of gathering in Washington, D.C. More than 16,000 clients around the world completed 107,000 on-demand classes and viewed 50,000 hours of content at YASC Digital. Yardi will build on YASC Digital by combining the year’s five remaining conferences into YASC Global, a presentation of more than 280 on-demand classes Oct. 20-22. Like YASC Digital, YASC Global is free to all clients and features customized, self-paced learning and market-based registration tracks. There’s also live chat support from product specialists, in-depth spotlight sessions, real-time chat with fellow attendees, prizes and giveaways, and social media interaction. Attendance at YASC Global is expected to exceed that of YASC Digital. “We’re gratified that our clients gained so much from YASC Digital. That outcome inspired us to repeat the experience and enhance it with expanded class offerings, panel sessions and exclusive special events,” said Kevin Yardi, the company’s vice president of global solutions. “We look forward to joining industry leaders around the globe in a memorable event.” Learn about the value in store for Yardi clients at YASC...

Although a few states have begun relaxing visitation restrictions for assisted living facilities, the pandemic isn’t over yet. So senior living providers have continued to follow stringent protocols for protection. They’re doing all they can to keep residents healthy – and happy. Here’s another roundup of clients with uplifting stories to brighten your day: Festivities for Father’s Day Since families were unable to celebrate Father’s Day in person with their loved ones, staff at Merrill Gardens went above and beyond to make the day special for the dads in their communities. Employees in Monterey created little gift bags, provided lunch and hired a live jazz band to brighten things up. Staff at other communities, including Willow Glen and Madison, did their own versions of gift baskets as well. Check out Merrill Gardens’ blog post for the Father’s Day photos. Bringing families one step closer Over the past few months, many senior living communities have implemented their own version of window visits or visiting stations with barriers to protect residents. Aegis Living has taken the idea one step further by designing “outdoor living rooms,” complete with comfy chairs and decorations, to go with the plexiglass shields. “With each passing week of residents being physically separated from loved ones, we knew we had to find a better way,” said Kris Engskov, president of Aegis Living. “Design consulting and support from infectious disease experts and physicians helped us create these beautiful, new Outdoor Living Rooms to bring families together again – safely.” Horses with hats pay a visit While there’s no replacement for a family member dropping by to say hi, there’s no stopping a smile if horses in a clown hat and tiara walked up to your window. At Maple Wood Alzheimer’s Special Care Center, that’s...

The annual Realcomm ׀ IBCon conferences recognize real estate companies, projects, technologies and people for excellence in automation, technical innovation and intelligent building projects. Outstanding contributors over the past year received Commercial Real Estate Digital Innovation Awards, known as Digies, at the most recent Realcomm ׀ IBCon conferences in Nashville, Tenn. Digies are among the highest recognition available in the commercial real estate industry. One Digie winner was Australian property manager and investor Dexus, which, as described by Realcomm, “created an elite partnership with Yardi, effectively leveraging all modules of the Yardi suite to maximize enterprise cost/benefit.” Another Digie winner, Santa Monica, Calif. retail owner, operator and developer Macerich, incorporated Yardi solutions into its smart building management system. Yardi salutes all client organizations that received Digie awards this year, including: Cushman & Wakefield: Recognized early the role commercial real estate service providers can play in accelerating PropTech startups in real estate and construction technology. Shows ongoing commitment to exploring innovative strategies while working with large, progressive corporate clients. Prologis: Established a 15,000-square-foot industrial innovation center in San Leandro, Calif., for testing emerging technologies. Created a virtual data lake and migrated the in-house data warehouse into the cloud. Developed a customer experience platform that connects clients with services and products they need to run their Prologis logistics space efficiently. Boxer Property: Introduced AI into the company in multiple areas. Made innovative use of natural language processing for resume reviews and work order management. Optimized real estate operations with Blockchain technology implementation. Brookfield Properties: Built an integrated, automated and responsive cloud analytics and BI platform to extract and integrate data from various transactional systems, IoT devices and third-party data sources. Built a data strategy to drive actionable insights into the optimal retail tenant mix that matches demographics...

The next Yardi Advanced Solutions Conference is coming to Washington, D.C., kicking off on May 30, 2018. YASC brings together more than 1,500 professionals from nearly every property and financial management industry for instruction, comradery, and insight into the future of technology. At last year’s YASC, we sat down with Rachel Brown, Section 8 manager for the Fort Smith, Arkansas Housing Authority (FSHA). Rachel has witnessed exciting growth during her nearly 15 years with FSHA, growth that includes personal experiences, organizational development, as well as the growth of clients she serves. Here’s a recap of our conversation last spring. Welcome to YASC! Tell us a little about yourself and your organization. Our mission is to develop, rehabilitate and manage decent, safe and sanitary affordable housing. We promote equal opportunity, fair housing initiatives and the deconcentration of race and poverty. I’ve been with FSHA for nearly 15 years, and we’ve really grown over that time. When I first started as a housing specialist, we had around 450 Public Housing units and less than 1,200 vouchers. Today, we have more than 1,600 vouchers under our management, transitioned 288 public housing units through the RAD program, and replaced 170 public housing units with the help of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits.  Our current development efforts include Low-Income Housing Tax Credit units, rehabbing dilapidated housing for sale to low- and moderate-income families, and exploring ways to provide everyone with the affordable housing that meets their needs. What do you find most rewarding about your career thus far? Seeing people’s lives transition and change for the better, those are the real ‘wow’ moments. Clients come into our program in many personal situations. Some are single parents, others are going to school or raising a family. It’s inspiring when they enter our...

The user experience can make or break a piece of software, and user feedback is of key importance to the software development process. Companies strive to learn how customers respond to products wherever possible, be it through social media, focus groups, surveys or client conferences. Without input from users, software developers can miss out on opportunities to innovate new features that take into consideration the unique needs of their users’ daily workflows. Chris Ulep, Yardi vice president of multifamily product development, describes how a strong client involvement benefits his team’s development process. “Clients have a strong voice in the design of Yardi solutions. We value their input because it makes our development process faster and more responsive to their immediate needs. We embrace the opportunity to engage clients during development process, and leverage their vast experience and understand their requirements,” Ulep said. That philosophy is also evident in how Yardi develops content for its online staff training platform, Yardi eLearning. One of the main ways the Yardi eLearning team solicits input from clients is through monthly roundtable sessions, available to any client free of charge. “Our monthly client roundtables are interactive, informative and collaborative. Leading trainers and content designers from around the country gather for quick, one-hour sessions that cover a variety of topics. Our roundtables bolster creativity and foster new ideas by sharing new ideas on the screen for everyone to see. Prioritizing those ideas as we develop features and curricula is just one of the ways we ensure Yardi eLearning content stays relevant and in alignment with our clients’ needs,” said Patty Evans, director of corporate training and eLearning for Yardi. While inspiring conversation is valuable for participants, the camaraderie of the events is even more important. “The opportunity to meet regularly with a community of...

We could all use just a little more time to get everything checked off our to-do lists. If you’re a property manager at any size property, you and your team have a seemingly endless list of daily tasks, from interacting with new prospects to taking resident payments. Fortunately, modern technology is evolving to help speed things up at work. Advances in online services mean many processes that once had to be done by hand can now be automated. Recently, a few clients have shared quantifiable time savings they’re seeing at their businesses as a result of implementing better property management software. Take a look to see where you could be saving hours every month. Online Applications: 15+ minutes per application How much time do onsite teams spend entering application data? Mallory Monsma, marketing leader at NALS, estimates that online applications save its leasing agents 15 minutes each. In August of 2016, the team processed 347 applications, resulting in a time savings of 87 hours. If you’re using esignatures and completing the leasing process entirely online, your time savings will be even greater. Not to mention all the savings you’ll accrue surrounding printing, mailing, paper costs and physical storage. Online Payments: 4+ minutes per payment Monsma says that automated payment processing saves at least two minutes per check and a 20-minute roundtrip to the bank for every 10 checks. These numbers might seem small, but they quickly add up across a portfolio. In a month with 11,000 online payments, the NALS team saved 44,000 minutes (733 hours). Getting onboard with online payments also adds convenience for renters and speeds up cash flow. Roscoe Properties collects 95% of its rent electronically, quickly and on time. Mariana Estrada, vice president of operations, enthused, “That’s massive! That’s money...

Affordable Housing Finance recently released the Top 50 Affordable Housing Developers of 2016. The list  showcases developers with the most reported affordable units started and completed within the year. Great Companies, Great Timing Yardi clients received 23 out of the 50 available spots on the list: The NRP Group Miller Valentine Group LDG Development Dominium Herman & Kittle RPM Development Group St. Anton Communities Conifer Realty Bridge Housing Corporation Volunteers of America Arker Companies Community Investment Strategies USA Properties Fund Atlantic Pacific Communities BFC Partners Picerne Real Estate Group AHC Pennrose Woda Group McCormack Baron Salazar Related Mercy Housing WinnCompanies The new construction barely puts a dent in the ongoing affordable housing shortage, which now exceeds 4.7 million units. Yet the timing could not have been better. Recent cuts to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as tax reforms, are projected to trigger a decrease in future affordable housing construction. Tighter budgets require developers to work with greater efficiency and accuracy. That is why nearly half of Top 50 Affordable Housing Developers turn to Yardi. Robust Software Yardi ® Construction Management improves projects’ cost control and budget oversight, from their nascent stages to close-out. Users can develop financing plans and monitor agreements from contractors and subcontractors. As the project progresses, users can compare actual costs to the job budget. Both job costs and the general ledger are updated in real time, providing users with the most accurate and dependable information. The comprehensive reporting within Construction Management provides detail and transparency to users, protected with controlled permissions.  Users receive an overview of budgets, revisions, change orders and commitments, each with drill-down options for greater detail. Construction Management seamlessly integrates with Yardi Affordable Housing Suite ™, allowing users to continue project...