Package Gate: How One Major Apartment Owner's Dealing With Online Deliveries
Too many packages have cost Camden Property Trust $3.3M in lost productivity, and it's drawing the line. The major apartment developer/manager has banned all packages in the management offices of its 169 communities nationwide.
Camden president Keith Oden calls the problem "package-gate." He says his firm received one million packages last year, and it's been increasing 50% annually. Each package results in 10 minutes of lost time, he told the Wall Street Journal. At an average $20/hour employee wages, it paid $3.3M for employees to act like UPS reps.
It started banning deliveries to the management offices at the beginning of the year, and it's now fully implemented across the country. Residents can still have packages sent directly to their door, but many are nervous about theft, so they're opting instead to pick up packages at the post office or have them sent to their work or to friends or family, according to the Wall Street Journal.
As online shopping has increased, apartment managers across the country are struggling with the package issue. Some communities are implementing package lockers that don't need to be manned, but Cyber Monday and the holiday season can push even those past capacity, National Multifamily Housing Council VP Rick Haughey told us last year.
Pictured is Camden City Centre II, a property in Houston, where Camden is based.
