No Home Like Place
Despite such rapid growth, Place never skimps on the details that make its communities a home. Walk into one of the company’s properties–be it on or off-campus–and your jaw is guaranteed to drop. Forget the typical dorm with no air conditioning, an old radiator heater, a tiny portable refrigerator, ancient laundry facilities in the basement, and a hall bathroom shared by a dozen or more students.
Place’s typical on- and off-campus community caters to every need of the student. Communities offer fully furnished four-bedroom, four-bathroom units, plus full kitchens featuring a bar seating area, a living room, and of course, the must-have washer and dryer. Most properties boast a so-called “Town Hall,” which serves as a focal point for student life. In addition to computer labs and study areas, the Town Hall features activity and game rooms with pool tables and foosball, big-screen TVs, and fireplaces–not to mention nearby fitness centers and pools.
These types of amenities are a necessity in today’s world, says John R. Anderson, vice chair of the University of Chattanooga Foundation and the Campus Development Foundation, which owns a property built and managed by Place at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. “Cecil is very much in tune with the student culture today,” says Anderson. “Students today are more sophisticated [than in the past], have higher expectations, expect more privacy, and want access to more services.”
Interestingly, some schools are making a special effort to equip freshman communities with the latest and greatest amenities: Their freshmen live in newly built communities, while upperclassmen are housed in older buildings–quite a change from the past, when freshmen were assigned to the no-frills dorms. “If we can dream it and build it, parents are ready to give it to their children,” says Jessica Nix, Place’s director of public relations.
To discover what students really want, the company frequently holds student focus groups, and Phillips consults his three young adult daughters for much-welcomed advice. Don’t be surprised to see the executive himself wandering the walkways of a campus near you, chatting with students about their living experiences. “This particular demographic group is not shy about telling you what they like and what they don’t like,” says Phillips. “There’s no doorkeeper, and it helps me because I get their advice unfiltered and undiluted.”
Unlike some executives, Phillips takes the students’ advice to heart. It’s this commitment that drew Jim Rosenberg to the company a few months ago to take on the role of president and COO. “He has a passion for this industry and wants to make a difference for both students and universities,” say Rosenberg, who left Archstone-Smith for his first foray into student housing.
Phillips’ dedication shows even in his furniture selection for the units. At first glance, you probably wouldn’t notice anything unusual about the chairs and couches. But Phillips explains that each item was carefully chosen for a reason. Take the desk chair, for example. It’s a two-position chair that lets students either sit upright or safely rock back and put their feet up on their desks as they work. The living room sofa and end chairs feature extra-padded arms so residents can comfortably swing their legs over the furniture (as Phillips demonstrates in his office chair) and watch TV without destroying the arms. And instead of providing a table and chairs in the kitchen, Place added the popular bar with matching bar stools. Such selections not only win the approval of students but also help extend the longevity of the furniture.
“Someone once said to me, ‘You are spoiling these kids,'” says Phillips. “I said, ‘No, they come to me that way.'”
Another innovative management technique: Place inspects each unit monthly to check for damage, be it a cigarette burn or a hole in the wall. So don’t expect any Animal House action at a Place property. Any damage is fixed within 24 hours, and the lease guarantor (most likely a parent) is charged on the next month’s rental invoice. “The monthly inspections floored me, for someone to think to do that,” says Copeland, who joined the company from the market-rate side of the multifamily business. “It helps us so much when it comes to that turn time so we are not having to go in and replace 50 doors at once.”