Mystic Place Apartments, WinnResidential
Large (more than 150 units) Community of the Year

Community Description

• Mystic Place is a 495-unit mixed-income community in Medford, Massachusetts, that offers renters affordable luxury in one of the country’s tightest rental markets. The transit-oriented community is minutes from Wellington MBTA subway station, providing easy access to downtown Boston and Somerville’s Assembly Row shopping center along the MBTA Orange Line. It is situated along Mystic Valley Parkway, less than one-quarter mile from Interstate 93
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  Mystic Place is comprised of three 14-story high-rise buildings, a four-story covered parking garage, dog park, playground area, and clubhouse area with fitness center, yoga room, business center and media room. There are 186 one-bedroom apartments and 279 two-bedroom apartments at the community, which is home to 916 residents. One hundred and forty units (30%) are set aside for households earning below 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI) and 370 are rented at market rate.
  
  Mystic Place was developed as affordable housing by WinnCompanies in 1976. By 2016, the community was refinanced through MassHousing's MAP/Ginnie Mae Joint Venture initiative to address capital needs. This $55 million refinancing also provided resources for extensive property improvements and allowed WinnCompanies to maintain affordability at Mystic Place through 2050.
  
  In 2017, the community began a robust renovation program that brought new life to the 40-year-old community.
  Exterior improvements included façade cleaning and rendering to improve appearance and energy efficiency; a thoughtfully-designed landscaping plan for the entire nine-acre site, including sodding, plantings, mulching, and adding twinkle lights in the entryway trees; the replacement of an outdated gatehouse with a monument sign; and, the creation of patios with privacy walls for all ground-level units.
  
  To compete with new multifamily construction in the market, Mystic Place improved its amenity package. An old tennis court was removed to create a 4,000 square-foot dog park, equipped with agility equipment, dog water fountains, benches and a custom mural wall of Fenway’s Green Monster. Nicknamed “Fenway Bark,” the space provides an outdoor gathering area beloved by residents and pets alike. Additional outdoor improvements include bike storage, playground upgrades and the creation of an outdoor sun deck with café-style seating and outdoor grills that overlooks “Fenway Bark” and the expansive park-like landscape of Mystic Place. The on-site leasing area and management office was expanded and renovated to create a more customer-friendly environment.
  
  The community has implemented a robust unit renovation program to modernize units and improve energy efficiency. The renovations, performed as units become vacant, saw the installation of modern cabinetry, new easy-to-clean plank flooring, stainless steel ENERGY STAR appliances, LED lighting fixtures and low-flow plumbing fixtures. Walls were removed to create more open-concept floor plans and painted with low-VOC paints to create brighter, airier living spaces. As of January 2020, 434 of the community’s 495 units have been renovated.
  
  The success of the renovation program can be measured in a 10 percent increase in resident satisfaction scores between 2017 and 2019, average 2019 occupancy of 97.2 percent, and 2019 income exceeding budget by 14 percent.

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

• WinnResidential property staff members demonstrate a client-first mentality, focused on solutions and resident happiness for worry-free living. The management office at Mystic Place is open six days a week and is staffed by a property manager, two assistant property managers, two leasing coordinators, a full-time maintenance manager and four full-time maintenance technicians, with a rotating on-call maintenance technician for after-hours service requests. Our maintenance staffers service all exterior and interior issues and, in keeping with the client happiness philosophy, will even hang flat panel TVs.
  
  The community has a contracted common area cleaning team that cleans, vacuums and mops the common areas throughout the site daily, as well as contracted landscapers that work weekly between April and November. The on-site maintenance team performs annual inspections in each unit, consisting of preventative measures that include changing HVAC filters and changing smoke detector batteries. HVAC maintenance for common areas is performed on a quarterly basis.
  
  The immediate neighborhood adjacent to Mystic Place has seen a full transformation with the removal of the outdated and mostly vacant Meadow Glen Mall and grand opening of Wegmans Grocery. The addition of small, locally owned cafes and restaurants opening in nearly Medford Square have strengthened the area’s community feel. Local favorites include Mystic Coffee Roasters, Tenoch Mexican and the posh Italian eatery and wine bar, Real Gusto.
  
  Medford’s art and recreation scene is also flourishing, offering Mystic Place residents a taste of culture and excitement in their own backyard. The historic Chevalier Theater, located in Medford Square, offers live music, comedy and theatrical performances. Residents also can visit the year-round Medford Farmer’s Market, offering vendors selling fresh vegetables, flowers, fruit, meat, breads, desserts and lots more. Mystic Place is also situated along the Wellington Greenway, a 2.5-mile-long, multi-use trail located along the Mystic and Malden rivers. Residents can explore the Mystic River and other Boston waterways via canoe, kayak or stand-up paddleboard at the seasonal Boston Paddle location.
  
  The community offers a prime location with optimal access to all that metropolitan Boston has to offer. Mystic Place is located seven minutes from the Wellington MBTA subway Station on the MBTA Orange line, providing quick access to downtown Boston. Drivers can easily access Route 16, Route 60 and Interstate 93. The Orange Line provides direct access to the top destinations throughout Boston, including TD Garden via North Station, Boston’s North End via Haymarket, and the world-class retail and entertainment amenities at Assembly Row, Downtown Crossing, and Back Bay.
  
  As rental pricing continues to rise in the city, quality outer-urban locations such as Medford have emerged as the ideal alternative to downtown-living. Mystic Place presents an ideal luxury living option with ease of access to downtown Boston.

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

• The management team at Mystic Place partners with cutting edge industry providers for revenue management, multi-media marketing and customer service platforms.
  
  Mystic Place utilizes the ActiveBuilding® Resident Portal, which offers residents the convenience of online rent payments, package notifications, online lease renewals, service requests and amenity reservations. In addition, the portal gives residents a shared space to engage as a community, enables community messaging, and includes a comprehensive package delivery and monitoring service.
  
  To ensure that our team members are upholding their commitment to resident satisfaction, WinnResidential utilizes Kingsley Associates integrated email surveys at every step of the customer journey. Between 2017 and 2019, the positive resident experience increased 10.88 percent. The community also utilizes ReviewPush to monitor online reputation management through social media channels, as well as ratings and review sites. Between 2017 and 2019, Google reviews increased from an average of 3.40 stars to 4.20 stars (a 23.5 percent increase) and in volume by 183 percent. Negative reviews decreased 51.85 percent in that time period.
  Our management staff is also committed to ensuring that residents are highly engaged. The community boasted an average 95.6 percent occupancy in 2019.
  
  Mystic Place is situated near the heart of downtown Medford. The entire Medford community recognizes this building as a community gathering space.
  
  The property hosts blood drives, election voting, food pantry donations and community charity events. The Mystic Leadership team has developed a close relationship with town officials and local businesses. Nothing demonstrates this better than the most anticipated night of the year, National Night Out. The entire Medford community unites to celebrate this annual event. WinnCompanies partners with local public safety departments, elected officials, area businesses and property vendors to provide a day of information, fun and food to both Mystic Place residents and neighbors in the surrounding area.
  
  The community regularly hosts events for our residents in our activity spaces, including the Network Café, Fitness Center, and Resident Lounge, all of which which re-opened in May 2019 after renovation. Recent events have included Paint Night, Fall Festival and a "Wardrobe Swap," where residents can exchange clothing that they no longer wear and donate unwanted items to charity.
  
  Mystic Place is an exceptionally pet friendly community. It is home to “Fenway Bark,” an outdoor dog playground that features agility equipment, water stations and an outdoor grooming area. Fenway Bark has a custom mural designed to look like the Green Monster at Fenway.
  
  Mystic Place is committed to the WinnGreen philosophy of creating healthy homes for our residents. As we develop and operate properties to maximize their use and promote healthy communities, we also ensure the efficient use of natural resources. The community offers residents complimentary single-stream recycling and uses only plant-based, eco-friendly cleaning products.