Value Cos. Upgrades, Leases Up North NJ Apartment Complex
Bergen County, NJ--Dorchester Manor, an apartment complex in New Milford, NJ, is nearing a complete lease-up of its 200 apartments.
By Dees Stribling, Contributing Editor
Bergen County, NJ–Dorchester Manor, an apartment complex in New Milford, NJ, is nearing a complete lease-up of its 200 apartments, according to Value Asset Management (VAM), a division of Clifton, N.J.-based Value Cos., which was tasked about three months ago by the property’s owners to facilitate a lease-up. VAM chalks it up to traditional management combined with a more technologically advanced approach.
“Third-party management brings a new set of eyes that looks at the overall physical property and operations with a more critical eye,” Andrew Abramson, president of Value Cos., tells MHN. “Owner-managers typically get too focused on the current financial operations and don’t spend sufficient time analyzing the physical property and its long-term economic health in the market place.”
One of the steps that VAM took after it accepted the Dorchester Manor assignment was to implement new user- and mobile-friendly property web sites to provide resident services, and streamline payment and maintenance requests. “The end result is an effective management operation and an increased leasing velocity and resident retention,” notes Jack Linefsky, director of apartment operations for Value Cos.
Not only that, the company is also nearly finished with a $1 million capital improvement program to update the complex. Upgrades will include energy-efficient insulated windows, apartment entry doors, new shutters, removal and installation of new landscaping, and new roofs on some buildings. The property is a collection of one- and two-bedroom apartment homes situated in 18 buildings.
Besides providing third-party management, Value Cos. also owns and manages its own portfolio of about 3,800 residential units in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Texas and Florida. As its corporate name suggests, the company also–but not exclusively–specializes in value-add multifamily investments: properties where there are opportunities to redevelop, reposition or generally improve the fixed assets, curb appeal, resident relations or maintenance operations.