“They’re clearly putting together an all-star lineup of talent,” says Malcolm McComb, vice chairman of investment properties for the multihousing group in the Atlanta office of CB Richard Ellis.
While the brothers admit that change and personnel decisions have been difficult, the additions were necessary for Bell to continue growing. “On an evolutionary basis, it was the next step,” Durant says. “Bringing in these senior leaders allowed my dad, Jon, and me to let go of some of the details in many of the departments. That dynamic has allowed us to continue growing and become more sustainable.”
On-the-Ground Basics
Steven has been passionate about operations since he founded the company in 1976. Instead of sleeping at four-star hotels when touring properties, Steven has always insisted on staying in vacant units or on-site guest suites. He saves letters from residents and employees. And he’ll suggest fixing on-site problems—like the time he suggested a property manager was using too many lightbulbs per floor. Or when he thought another property had too many flowers.
“The people at the top don’t just sit in the office at Bell,” says David Luski, president and COO of DRA. “Steven and Jon and the operations people are in the field working with their people, training, visiting the properties, and learning the position of their assets in the market.”
That spirit resonates through the company, according to Pete Serodino, a 25-year investor in Bell properties. “I think Steven’s very fortunate to have the crew that he does, even down to the maintenance men at the apartments,” he says. “They all feel that they’re part of the organization.”
That’s because from the top down at Bell, there’s one mantra: “In our world, it’s ‘every asset counts,’?” Ditto says.
And indeed, every asset must count. Unlike other large owner/operators, Bell can’t hide its outliers or underperformers in a large portfolio and hope the other properties compensate for the lackluster numbers. The company has too many partners with various equity investments on different deals. In addition, about 30 percent of the properties it manages are for third parties. That can make it difficult to plant its latest branding initiative, “Apartment Living at Its Best,” across its portfolio, which it wants to do with Bell Fund II. “One of the challenges for us is that we have different ownership groups,” Jon says. “When we have what we think is a powerful initiative, we must first obtain owner approval.”
