Property Management Companies Are Using AI To Get More Human

Artificial intelligence is helping property management companies develop successful projects while building and maintaining a sense of community with their tenants. 

AI is incorporated into every aspect of Marigold Venture Partners’ business, CEO Joe Zylka said. It makes rent collection and bill payment efforts seamless for the property services arm of Goldenrod Cos. Plus it frees up time for experienced property management personnel to actually get to know their tenants and build successful relationships.

“If you are not doing everything you can to put it in right now on every single thing that your property management company touches, you're going to lose. Period,” Zylka said during Bisnow’s Dallas-Fort Worth Property Management Summit Tuesday at The Westin Galleria Dallas. “I can’t stress it enough.”

For companies that haven’t yet implemented AI, J Street Property Services Senior Vice President Sarah Turner stressed the importance of choosing the right time and way to bring in such a program.

“Anything you roll out, if your team is not bought in, it is going to cost you money and be frustrating and will cost you people,” Turner said. 

Turner joked she has some jealousy toward the AI that J Street uses. It regularly gets potential tenants to visit the property and has occasionally received flowers, she said.

The AI at Stream Realty’s The Quad project in Uptown Dallas is also winning fans, Managing Director of Property Management Tiffany Marano said. The Quad opened last year with 345K SF of office space and five standalone retail buildings at 2699 Howell St. The AI systems will call an elevator to the parking garage after a tenant drives in and adjust the temperature settings in employees’ offices to their preferences before they arrive. 

“I'm just truly impressed that it's happening,” Marano said of the incorporation of AI. “And it's going to continue to happen more and more.”

Property managers also put technology to use in other ways. 

Weitzman utilizes Placer.ai to find the best tenant mix at its retail developments, Senior Vice President Sandi Scott said. Placer.ai uses cell phone data to compile the retail shopping patterns of consumers, which Scott said Weitzman uses to adjust the offerings within a shopping center to maximize consumer engagement. 

Bradford Cos. has used technology to determine the highest return on investment when it comes to capital expenditures, Vice President of Business Development and Strategy Julianna Brooks said. The firm recently stepped away from retail and is focusing on suburban office and industrial assets.

While companies continue to explore AI and other technology programs, Marano said she looks forward to the day when the cost of implementing those technologies isn't as impactful as it is now. 

“We're just in uncharted territory, to some extent, on how we're going to implement that at some of the buildings, whether it's industrial, retail [or] office,” Marano said. “Eventually [the cost] will flatten out a little bit.”

Property management is all about building relationships, the panelists agreed, and sometimes that means going beyond a property’s boundaries. 

J Street expects to begin leasing a multifamily property in Kerrville in the near future, Turner said. After devastating flash river flooding swept through Kerrville and the Texas Hill Country earlier this month, Turner said her team was on the phone in the middle of the night, offering any help they could provide to the city manager. 

During the pandemic, Turner saw firsthand the power of community in property when multifamily tenants kept the businesses and restaurants in their mixed-use developments from failing. 

When Goldenrod proposed a big mixed-use project in West Dallas, Zylka said it had to take time to understand the people living there, as residents were bitter over previous unfulfilled promises from developers. Goldenrod staff explained and gave context to what they were planning.

Zylka said his biggest job is to build a strong enough relationship that people trust him and will tell him the truth. Then he can be honest about what’s possible with his employees and the community they build.

With DFW’s continued growth, property management companies will have plenty of opportunities to continue building relationships and community in the years ahead.  

“There is a huge opportunity for all of us who are sitting in the room right now to be, and continue to be, extremely successful,” Brooks said.