Landen Apartment Homes, Legacy REI Group
Small (up to 150 units) Community of the Year

Community Description

• Landen Apartment Homes is a 1970, 134-unit apartment community located at 1831 W Pioneer Dr, Irving, Texas. It has a mix of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom homes and is a master-metered community with mansards and flat roofs. While it may sound old in appearance and style, I assure you she is now the standout community in the south Irving submarket!
  
  I acquired Landen Apartment Homes in late March 2017. This community was a Class C- property with good bones, but an immense amount of deferred maintenance that really put our residents at risk in terms of safety, comfort and well-being.
  
  From April 2017 through much of 2018, Landen underwent an extensive $1.5M renovation on both the exterior and the interiors. As a long-term holder, I believe strongly in replacing everything up front in order to provide the best community and the best homes possible for our residents. So, every system and infrastructure within the community were replaced. The exterior and the interiors were as well.
  
  Major systems and infrastructure were replaced including all new roofs replacing the original tar & gravel, a new boiler and storage tank, new HVAC units, and sewer lines where required.
  
  Each home was completely renovated with new vinyl plank flooring, carpet in the bedrooms, black appliances including microwaves and dishwashers, tiled kitchen backsplash, brushed nickel finishes and low flow toilets and aerators for water conservation. A light gray paint scheme with white trim was used to brighten each home adding a more contemporary style.
  
  The exterior was renovated by replacing all rotten wood, repairing bricks walls, painting the exterior in light gray color scheme with accent colors, replacing all patios with cedar, and all balconies with Galvalume metal. New amenities were added or improved including an expanded pool deck, cedar pergola, palm trees, yuccas, a playground with another cedar pergola, picnic tables, and finally a new outdoor kitchen and grill and with more picnic tables and another pergola. Additional parking was added across from the leasing center to address our higher occupancy. Years of deferred maintenance were finally corrected.
  
  Over the last 2 years I have worked tirelessly to renovate and reposition this community. In Feb 2019, I finalized a supplemental refinance of this community recapturing 98% of the original capital required to purchase it, and I was able to accomplish this in less than 2 years.
  
  Today, Landen Apartment Homes rates 3.8 stars on Google reviews in a submarket that averages in the lows 2s. Landen is the standout Class B community in south Irving that provides incredible homes and amenities to our residents not found in any surrounding properties.

Community's service to residents, including customer service, maintenance schedules and philosophy, and a description of the surrounding neighborhood.

• Landen Apartment Homes is a community in the truest sense of the word. My onsite team understands that our purpose is to serve the residents, not the other way around. When we go above and beyond to provide incredible homes, to host community events that allows the neighbors to all meet each other and kids to play, that creates community. That creates trust. And our residents that know they will always be taken care of, that they will always have the best home possible.
  
  Often times our residents come by the leasing center simply to talk, to say hi, to bring food to the onsite team or to simply talk about their children or how the weekend went. They come in for coffee, snacks, and the children come in for candy when their parents allow.
  
  To create this kind of community where the residents now we care and where the neighbors know each other, we host resident events throughout the year. They include:
  • Continental breakfast
  • Movie night by the pool
  • Back to school drives
  • Summer pool parties
  • Halloween parties
  
  For maintenance, I believe in best product, best price. And as described above we replace all systems and infrastructure from day one. This creates peace of mind with our residents knowing that the roofs are brand new, the boilers are brand new and the HVAC units are new as well.
  
  We strive monthly to be proactive on maintenance focusing primarily on prevention. Many times however, our work orders are plumbing related. And being an older community, we know what to expect. So routine hydro-jetting of the sewer lines is a big part of our preventative maintenance, and when necessary we replace sewer lines with all new PVC.
  
  Each quarter we also provide our resident with pest control and assure them pest and rodents will not be an issue. With two restaurants nearby this is a preventive maintenance program strongly emphasized at Landen. For our residents we also replace their air filters and smoke alarm batteries when necessary. We want them to know that maintenance will not be an issue at Landen.
  
  And our onsite maintenance team knows that 100% of all work orders are to be completed each month and that every work order must be completed to the resident’s satisfaction within 48 hours.
  
  Landen Apartment Homes is located in south Irving, Texas at 1831 West Pioneer. It is nestled between a quiet residential neighborhood and a small shopping center with two restaurants and other retail stores. It is centrally located between Dallas and Fort Worth with easy access to the major highways and the DFW airport. There is an elementary school across the street and several nearby churches.

Community's impact on the local community, including occupancy rate/retention, environmental, and community service.

• Through Landen Apartment Homes, I have come to know our City multifamily inspectors quite well. I have their email and personal cell phone numbers and they have mine. They know that I am committed to improving not only our apartment community, but the City of Irving as well. And I think Landen Apartment Homes has really helped us achieve that reputation and goal.
  
  When our inspectors hear that we are acquiring another community in Irving, they know we are going to come in and fix everything. They know the community will be repaired and the residents will be happy. I think they know that what was once perhaps a problem community for them will no longer be one.
  
  Landen Apartment Homes, to perhaps a small extent, has showcased to other owners and operators what is possible. Low income submarkets does not mean run-down housing. That’s not how we should operate, and it’s not how we should treat other people.
  
  For me personally, Landen Apartment Homes has set the standard of how all our communities will be renovated and operated. I own 3 other communities in the City of Irving, and with each one my goal has been to improve the quality of life of our residents, one community at a time. Landen has accomplished this by providing good homes and a great community to our residents. And through that effort, Landen has helped improve the City of Irving just a little bit more.
  
  These older, 1970s apartment communities are in negative supply. Developers are no longer building Class C/Class B rental housing. So, there is a unique opportunity for us to step up and create incredible homes for our residents who simply want a good place to live, near their schools, churches, shopping centers and friends.
  
  In 2019, our average occupancy at Landen Apartment Homes was 97%. Our average delinquency for that time was less than 1% and our turnover was only 26%. Our residents love Landen. It’s their home. It’s where special moments like birthdays, graduations, kindergarten, new families, new marriages all of life’s moments are created and celebrated. People remember these times and I want them to know that we care. I want them to know that whichever community they decide to live, that they will always be taken care of.
  
  Landen Apartment Homes provides a real sense of community and clean, functional homes to our residents. Landen is a standout community within the City of Irving and residents and the City alike know that we will take care of them.