Banner is excited to announce that The Metropolitan Apartments in downtown Raleigh is officially open!!! This community has been in the works for quite some time and we are overjoyed to see its doors swung wide open in the Glenwood South neighborhood.
This 241 unit apartment community is located at 314 W Jones street just steps away from countless bars, restaurants, and major Raleigh employers. The property was inspired by the famed NYC Blue Bar and holds a speak-easy, swanky vibe that our residents have fallen in love with. You will too!
The Metropolitan has apartments ranging in size from an efficient 556 SF Studio all the way up to an enormous, 1426 SF 2 Bed 2 Bath apartment will stunning views of the city. The community has countless amenities such as a clubroom with a dry bar, 24 hour package locker system, Retro Arcade Room, 24 hour Fitness and Yoga Studio, and a state of the art Golf Simulator.
What are you waiting for, come visit us today!!!
Every year J Turner Research releases their list of the Top Apartment Communities based on their online reputation and, every year, Whisper Hollow secures a spot in the top 1%.
This year is no exception!!
Whisper Hollow is ranked #682 of 101,000 apartments nationwide. Congrats Team! Your customer service and attention to detail continues to impress your residents and prospects alike. Keep up the good work!!
Banner places a large emphasis on its online reputation. We love feedback and encourage opportunities to improve. This year we have Two properties who beat out the rest of their competition and ranked on MFE's ORA power rankings for their region.
Congrats Whisper Hollow and Park 44!!!
For all of St Louis, our properties had the 6th highest ORA score and the 9th highest ORA score. The average score for their market was 62 and Whisper has an 89 and Park 44 an 88. Way to go teams!!!!
At Banner we love to play as hard as we work. This is evident in our creative and engaging company events. Every region hosts an outing called Bannerfest for employees to bond, explore their city, and take a day off.
In late October, the North Carolina region hosted their Bannerfest by participating in a city wide scavenger hunt with a group called StrayBoots. Each team ventured into Raleigh taking pictures at various locations until their goals were met. The winner was team “Pretty in Pink” and they secured themselves bragging rights for the rest of the year. Way to go team! Do you want to do fun stuff like this more often? Share an idea on our website for future company and resident outings.
Check out more pictures on Instagram
We are thrilled to announce the newest community of the Banner Family... Welcome Audere Apartments in Phoenix Arizona!
Audere Apartments is a 220 unit mid-rise community in the Biltmore/Midtown district of Phoenix. With the property we are adding 5 new employees and 350+ new residents. While this is a new region for Banner, we are excited for the challenge, the heat, and to provide the superior service that makes our company enjoyable to live at, work for, and work with.
If you want to learn more about Audere Apartments, CLICK HERE for our property website. There you can see the upscale and unique finishes of the community, countless floorplan offerings, top-notch amenities, as well as connect with our social accounts.
Live Bold. Live Audere
In sunny San Diego, California, the National Apartment Association held its annual conference Apartmentalize 2018. The conference was attended by roughly 10,000 of the country's top multifamily employees providing networking opportunities, an unbeatable tradeshow, and countless education sessions.
This year, we had two team members representing Banner as a thought leader in the industry who presented to rooms of eager learners. Congratulations to Steve Matre and Michael DeFrang!!!
Steve presented with a colleague on Training Your Talent - With continued innovation in rental housing, training is a must, but how? Examine today’s training landscape and the industry’s unique challenges: growing portfolios, geographically dispersed regions, so many job types and a world defined by distraction.
Michael presented on a panel on Maximizing the ROI of Service Based Amenities - Across property management, physical amenities (fitness centers, swimming pools, etc.) are integral to resident satisfaction. More recently, service-based amenities have played a larger role and personalized service will ultimately move the needle on resident retention and satisfaction. Explore proven ways to leverage resident surveys and market the results using user-driven data. Measure success via renewal percentage, referral percentage, and other forms of data-driven thinking to maximize ROI.
Way to go team Banner!!!
Nothing says Summer like a day at the ballpark! Banner teams from Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin put their rivalries aside for a fun company outing at Brewer's Stadium.
While one team had to win, everyone enjoyed some time out of the office to socialize, soak up the rays, throw back a cold one, and bond as a community Banner strives to build. Want to see more of the action?! Visit our Instagram Page HERE for all of the highlights.
We are excited to announce the winners of our Q1 RAVE Awards: Corporate - Tina Pater, Office Team Member - Brian Gibbons, and Maintenance Team Member - Michael Cooper! Way to go! Check out their winning accomplishments HERE.
Below are the other entrants and their accomplishments
Charles Moore; Maintenance Technician at Ansley Falls - North Carolina Charles .has proven to be one of the best employees Banner has been fortunate enough to hire. Charles started off the year at Ansley Falls without a maintenance supervisor for the first two months. He led the property’s maintenance operations fulfilling all roles of a supervisor. Charles and his team member Kevin worked any hours necessary, completing 30 turns, 329 work orders, and a weekend of fire watch within the two month period, while maintaining an average work order score of 4.89! Not only did Charles operate Ansley Falls to its fullest potential, but he assisted his coworkers at the neighboring property, Parkside at South Tryon, on over 10 separate occasions with turns and work orders, even skipping lunch to lend a hand. It is a rarity to find the level of dedication that Charles shows on a day to day basis. His work ethic not only shows the amount of work he accomplishes but also the level of influence and inspiration he imparts on his co-workers to achieve their own high level of excellence.
Anique Wilson; Assistant Property Manager at Parkside at South Tryon - North Carolina. Anique has been at Parkside since the day we took the property over on Aug 21st and started as a Leasing Agent. She was promoted to assistant manager in Nov. In the beginning of the quarter, the Property Manager had to take some time off and Anique stepped up and handled the managerial duties with a smile. Anique is over all social events. She hosts events with up to 35 children at a time and doesn't miss a beat. She is always willing to help no matter what the task at hand. She goes above and beyond to assist her co-workers and residents. She maintains a positive attitude. She consistently looks for ways to reduce expenses when holding her social events. Anique is a true team player!
Jennifer Nichols; Corporate Deputy General Counsel - BPM Corporate. Jen created a newsletter to keep everyone within Banner informed and connected. I only get a glimpse of how busy everyone on our legal team is, but I understand and appreciate how hard they all work, and Jen is no exception. She felt that communication of what is going on within the organization is so important that she added creating a quarterly newsletter to her already overflowing plate. This will keep all of our team members across the country informed of and connected to all things Banner. Thanks, Jen!
Jamee Miller; Assistant Property Manager at Autumn Ridge Apartments - Illinois. Jamee started at Autumn Ridge in the last week of December. At that point, many of the re-certification files for the Tax Credit and Project Based Section 8 were past due or well into their third notice. Within one quarter, the property has no re-cert files that are past due. This was all due to Jamee's hard work and due diligence. Now Jamee came from Garden Estates, a property that had similar paperwork, but no leasing requirements. Even though this portion of her job was new to her, she has excelled. A perfect example was that she received a 100% on her very first phone shop. Jamee is a superstar and by far one of the best Assistant Managers I've ever had the privilege of working with. Not only is Jamee always willing to put in the extra time and effort to make sure that the property is running smoothly, she puts in the extra effort with a smile on her face.
Maggie Sequeira; Property Manager at The Enclave at Winghaven - Missouri . I just want to recognize Maggie for her very determined approach to all issues; she has had several out-of-ordinary issues this quarter for a property manager, issues for which she's had to take off [the] property manager hat and focus on things outside [of] the operations realm. She's always determined to handle all aspects of [the] job professionally and thoroughly.
Alexis Caldwell & Tori Oliver; Leasing Consultants at The Enclave at Winghaven - Missouri. Our property had been trending much lower than [budgeted expectations] . We had a goal for the leasing staff to get 30 leases in 60 days. This goal started on 2/15/18 and by 4/1/18 they had reached their goal. They actually got 30 leases in 45 days and they did this with only two leasing [consultants]. These two girls really stepped up their game and hustled to make this goal happen. They did an exceptional job for The Enclave and Banner.
Trish Faedtke; Administrative Assistant - Croporate, Northbrook. Trish should win a RAVE award because she does the work most of us don't (or wouldn't) want to do. As office manager, she orders our supplies, takes care of the mail, and cleans the kitchen. As receptionist, she greets all who come in our doors everyday, handles solicitors, and delivers our lunch orders. [Since] January, Trish added HR Assistant to her title and took on many additional responsibilities without complaint. I truly appreciate Trish's help with everything and want her to know she's a valuable part of the Banner team!
Jaime Robbins; Leasing Consultant at Ansley Falls - North Carolina. Jamie started at Ansley Falls on a Thursday as the second full time employee within the office. His first Monday he found out that his only coworker would be out of the office for [the entire] week. Without any yardi, LRO, or rent dynamics experience Jamie was able maintain the property standards, leveraging his leasing experience from student housing and acquiring two new leases in this time period! The fearlessness Jamie showed that first week set the stage for what to come. Since then Jamie has proven to be an invaluable asset in overcoming difficult or emergency situations that arise in property management.
Kellie Wingold; Property Manager at Summermill at Falls River - North Carolina. Kellie started with Banner as Property Manager at Tradition at Stonewater. Kellie did an excellent job at Tradition. Summermill at Falls River was having operational issues. I asked Kellie if she would take on a new project and go to Summermill. Kellie started at Summermill mid Nov. She has gotten the property to their budgeted occupancy and fully staffed. Kellie also has mentored her replacement at Tradition while getting Summermill back on track. Kellie is a true team leader and team player. She is constantly looking for ways to improve occupancy, increase rents and save on expenses at both properties she has managed. She also has been a tremendous support to her sister properties as a mentor.
Margo Conley; Vice President of Development - BREG Self Storage. Margo has been with Banner since last fall and has really been sort of an internal brand ambassador for her team; being new in development, she travels a lot throughout the west coast for Banner, trying to source deals and make new storage development happen. She is based out in LA, so she communicates mostly by distance (technology), but is so gracious with her time. Even with a hectic schedule, she has made time to present a subject matter expert webinar, helping folks outside the development group understand their process of building stuff, and she makes it a point to be up in Chicago at least once per month. While she's there, she is so good about popping in just to catch up with people, even if they are not in her direct orbit. It's so refreshing. Our time and interactions with people are a gift, everyone wants to say they're so busy..Margo has been so gracious with her time and is always friendly, warm, and professional, making it a priority to forge personal connections.
Zach Bagot; Property Manager at Ansley Falls -North Carolina. Zach joined Banner as an Assistant Manager during the purchase of Parkside at South Tryon. Zach shined in his role and eventually he was promoted to be the Property Manager at Ansley Falls. During Zach’s time at Ansley Falls, Zach has been able to display his stellar customer service skills and multi-tasking abilities. Zach has not had the benefit of having a full team in place but he has put in the time and effort to keep the property functioning efficiently. Zach has always shown that he has the willingness to learn and grow within his current role with Banner. Zach can be described as someone who is good at thinking “outside the box”. He also has displayed the ability to empower his team members and find the value in their feedback.
Banner and all of its communities have officially been accredited by the Better Business Bureau (BBB). The BBB stands for marketplace trust and sees trust as a function of both integrity and performance. Banner will proudly display its seal and continue to uphold the values of the BBB.
In order to become accredited with this prestigious organization, the company must follow the BBB Standards for Trust. While a company can request accreditation, Banner was approached for its impressive track record of ethical decision, timely responses, and customer transparency.
At Banner we recognize that our business is about people first. Our mission is to deliver superior service to our investors and our residents while providing support and guidance to our employees. Banner’s success is attained by adhering to the following core values:
If you wish to learn more about the BBB or submit feedback on Banner, visit the BBB Website.
On Thursday, May 24th Team Banner once again participated in the J.P Morgan Corporate Challenge - Chicago, which is a 3.5 mile race that starts in Grant Park. This is the sixth year Banner has participated in this event and we had a team of 11 participates!
The J.P Morgan Corporate Challenge is a world wide series that is open to groups of full-time employees from organizations within the business and public sectors. Participates may register only as part of a company team.
Per the race details, "Participating companies use the event as a platform to promote health and fitness in the workplace, foster goodwill and camaraderie among their employees, and show their commitment to the community and best environmental practices. The Corporate Challenge strives to make a difference through a donation to a not-for-profit organization in each host city, and through our operations initiatives designed to make the Corporate Challenge the world's greenest road race." You can view more pictures on our instagram page.
Four Chicago-area commercial real estate professionals and two leading companies were honored for excellence and outstanding contributions to the property management industry March 2 at the 14th Annual IREM Chicago Premier Awards. Congratulations Steve Matre on your award!
Steve won the 2018 CPM of the Year award for his many contributions to Banner as well as the Chicagoland Apartment Association. One of Banner's core values is Dedication. Being dedicated to the development of our employees and the success of our company. Steve personifies dedication as the Director of Education and Human Resources, an accomplished speaker, and a CPM with IREM.
Steve has been a mentor and model Banner team member for many years and it's always nice to see accomplishment recognized. Way to go, Steve!!!
J Turner Research announces the 2017 Elite 1% ORA™ Power Ranking of properties for online reputation in the nation. Now in its fourth year, the annual ranking is based on an exhaustive research of over 71,000 properties across multiple review sites. It is released in association with our media partner, Multifamily Executive. A total of 977 properties made it to the ORA™ Elite club in 2017.
Banner is excited to announce that Whisper Hollow made the cut again! The property is number 232 of 71,000 properties nationwide with a proud ORA score of 91. Dena and her team at Whisper Hollow take customer service and response to the next level. For more information on the ORA Power Ranking and scoring process by J Turner Research, CLICK HERE!
Our 2017 Q4 RAVE winners have been announced! Congrats to Penny Ennulat, Selina Owens, and Antjuan Collins!!! You can read more about their efforts on the below website:
https://www.bannerapartments.com/about/banner-experience
We have many amazing entries this quarter. See below!
"Kellie transitioned over to Summermill at Falls River and Emma took over as property manager in November 2017. Emma has moved up from leasing consultant to property manager in under 2.5 years. She jumped in the role and has been doing an exemplary job at filling [her former Property Manager's] shoes. Emma learned from working under Kellie and has followed her lead in the managerial and role model position. Emma leads by example, she has an open door policy, and is always willing to work with her team to make sure everyone is happy and working effectively.I believe that Emma should win the RAVE award because she took on a major role with a partial team but has handled the responsibilities with determination and poise. I look up to Emma as a manager and mentor. I have already learned so much from Emma at my time at Tradition at Stonewater. I look forward to learning more, to watch her soar in her new position, and to maintain the integrity of Tradition at Stonewater." Emma Wells; Property Manager at Tradition at Stonewater - North Carolina
"Nick started last quarter, and shortly after Stonewood lost their Maintenance Supervisor. Nick jumped right in and without someone asking, started assisting Larry with maintenance items. His attitude was everything. On more than one occasion he could be heard saying "let's just get it done and knock these (work orders/make readies) out". A team effort was created and the maintenance and grounds work is being taken care of. The work Nick is doing is extremely helpful to the operation of the community as we have been really busy with turnovers in the past quarter. The work he is doing is above and beyond his job description." Nick Shreiber; Groundskeeper at Stonewood Village - Wisconsin
"Michael played an important role in the implementation of Rent Café. Aside from the time that he spent with the set up and roll out of the new resident portal, Michael also made himself available to solve the numerous issues that arose for our current and future residents. Michael was able to address their concerns while simultaneously transitioning back and forth from his daily tasks without letting either go overlooked. Michael is a valued part of the Banner Team that could be nominated quarter after quarter for a Rave Award, so it is easy to forget about his many contributions. Michael has always been someone that can handle numerous tasks at one time and is always looking for new ways to innovate and improve Banner." Michael DeFrang; Director of Marketing and Revenue Management - BPM Lisle
"This groundsman stepped up into [a] maintenance [technician position] temporarily from his grounds position because the maintenance team was short a player. Nick had no real experience in maintenance except for being around [the Regional Project Manager] and the Enclave maintenance staff for a couple of years on and off while he was in college on summer breaks. Nick has done a great job filling the shoes of a maintenance tech and has learned very quickly.This employee should win a RAVE award because of his efforts and his eagerness to learn quickly, and his profound work ethic. But most of all Nick went to work on Christmas eve after his supervisor called him to say he would have to go to work after the snow had stopped to spread ice melt on the entire property. He did so singlehandedly simply because he did not want to have the other maintenance staff to have to come in and leave their families on Christmas eve. This is a great example of selflessness. When Nick called his supervisor to tell him he was done and that he had taken care of the entire property Nick's supervisor was completely surprised and said I was intending on calling every one in but Nick had it all completed before the call was made. This is a great example of selflessness and extreme work ethic. Nick deserves this award." Nick Eisenbeis; Groundskeeper at The Enclave at Winghaven - Missouri
"[Natalie] demonstrated her composure in working through the leasing tasks as a new employee was being trained, and working as the only leasing consultant in the office for about a month. During this time, Natalie went above and beyond while managing her leasing tasks, to help support the property manager with other tasks that needed to be completed. She made herself available for last minute schedule changes, and overtime if necessary and was happy to do so! She worked through tasks given to her with no complaints, and came back with a smile asking what else she could do to help. Since her start at Tradition she has shown much professional growth and continuing confidence allowing her to help lead the team, especially during this quarter. Natalie toured over 100 prospects, had 39 approved applications, and her closing ratio was 26.67%!! Natalie has proven to be an extremely valuable part of the Tradition at Stonewater Team, and I am excited to watch her successes in the coming years!" "Natalie had a lot thrown at her as a new leasing consultant and a new Banner employee last quarter with new co-workers, a new supervisor, handling being short staffed, etc. At the start of the quarter a lot of staffing changes in our region left Natalie and a brand new manager to run a 351 unit, high energy property. Anyone would have been overwhelmed but Natalie not only stepped up to the plate she jumped over it and ran past it! She stepped in to assistant duties, juggled 52 leases, worked overtime with zero comments or complaints, managed a temp, and did not slip on any of her regular responsibilities. It is shocking how quickly she picked up on duties she had never been trained on and how seamlessly she rolled into a place of supporting the office without even being asked. Natalie truly exemplified what it means to be a Banner employee last quarter (and still is!). Her commitment to her supervisor and the company is admirable. In a time of change and stress she became the anchor of the office and grew tremendously professionally and personally. She is exactly what the RAVE award is about!" Natalie Cacchione; Leasing Consultant at Tradition at Stonewater - North Carolina
"A $37.5k cap project was completed in May to address leaking and moisture issues in the attics of all of the buildings at the property. In December, Rick responded to 2 service requests about bath exhaust vents leaking in bathrooms. He was quick to trouble shoot and make repairs and suggested that the contractors may need to come back and insulate all of the vent pipes in order to address the problem once and for all. In January, 2 more residents reported the same issue. Rick was sure that the solution he came up with worked as the 2 units had stopped leaking. He sent the contractor a professional and thorough email detailing the problem along with his suggested solution. The email was written with confidence and in a way that forced them to take ownership of their work. The contractor responded within an hour and scheduled the work for the following week with no discussion of warranty, cost, etc. and have since completed the work. Rick is very thorough in his work and consistently does an excellent job of trouble shooting issues in order to determine the best solution. Rick often takes photos and makes diagrams of various things in order to document and explain various maintenance issues and solutions. Rick could have passed the issue on to Donna, Bill, or me or he could have simply informed the contractor of the issue and asked them to come out. If handled differently, this would have likely resulted in more cost to the property. Instead, Rick exemplified the actions of a Maintenance Supervisor to RAVE about! One that knows his property, is quick to react, trouble shoots the issues, comes up with solutions, and takes action to resolve them." Rick Krause; Maintenance Supervisor at Glen Hills - Wisconsin
"Ryan truly deserves recognition for his outstanding work and terrific attitude. He was eager to help in the preparation of an upcoming HUD/REAC inspection at Autumn Ridge. Ryan worked independently on a property he was unfamiliar with and was very productive. He quickly prepared him self with the knowledge needed to make necessary repairs in all 210 apartment homes. His knowledge of plumbing, electrical, appliance repairs, flooring, repairs regarding safety concerns and all types of door repairs was exactly what the property needed. Ryan’s positive attitude and great work ethic is contagious. Thank you Ryan for stepping up and doing above and beyond." Ryan Jones; Maintenance Technician at The Greenway at Carol Stream
We are pleased to announce the winners of the Q3 RAVE Awards, and to honor all the nominees by sharing the good things they were up to last quarter! Thank you to those who took time out of their busy schedules to give their Banner teammates some much deserved praise and recognition. We had a lot of entries for Q3 which made it tough, but the voting committee selected the following entries as our Q3 winners (http://www.bannerapartments.com/about/banner-experience).
Regina Hughes – Office Team Member Q3 Rave Award Recipient
John Lewis – Maintenance Team Member Q3 RAVE Award Recipient
Colleen LeRose – Corporate Team Member Q3 RAVE Award Recipient
With all the great entries this quarter, we wished that there could be more than one award given per category! Please continue to read about all of the wonderful RAVE worthy submissions that we received from and about your peers and co-workers:
Office Team Members:
Donna Holzberger; Property Manager, Glen Hills - Glendale, Wisconsin
Zack Bagot; Assistant Manager, Parkside at South Tryon - Charlotte, North Carolina
Maintenance Team Members:
Bret Fowler; Maintenance Supervisor, Westview Apartments - St. Joseph, Michigan
Shanelle Whiting; Maintenance Supervisor, Goodlette Arms (Full Circle) - Naples, Florida
Jeff Pocuis; Maintenance Technician, Autumn Ridge - Carol Stream, Illinois
Dallas Miller; Maintenance Technician, Autumn Ridge - Carol Stream, Illinois
Larry West; Maintenance Technician, Stonewood Village - Madison, Wisconsin
Antjuan Collins; Maintenance Supervisor, Ansley Falls Apartment Homes - Charlotte, North Carolina
Corporate Team Members:
Ken Eisenbeis; Project Manager – Missouri/Texas/North Carolina
Tami Hess; Payrolls Specialist – Northbrook, Illinois Irena Goblin/Jennifer Boyd; Property Accountants – Northbrook, Illinois
Penny Ennulat; Systems Educator & Support Specialist – Everywhere
Fred Langtry; General Counsel – Northbrook, Illinois
Stonewood Village attended the The AASCW (Apartment Association of South Central Wisconsin) for their Annual Awards of Excellence in October. We are excited to announce that Stonewood won an award for "Property Team of the Year" and Tabitha Daveler won for "Leasing Representative of the Year - Honorable Mention" Winners are chosen by nominations from colleagues, residents and vendors. Congratulations all!
Be sure to check out pictures on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/p/BdNm6QzhaVP/
The North Carolina Banner teams celebrated 2017 with a food tour of Raleigh for BannerFest! The teams enjoyed traditional NC barbecue at The Pit and indulged their sweet tooth's at Bittersweet. Looks like a fun day!
Check out the pictures on our Instagram page at: https://www.instagram.com/p/BdNryS8h1CL/