Lock Down Tenants With An App

Soon residents in a downtown apartment building will be able to turn their units into mini VIP clubs. S.F.'s Urban Living Marketing is rolling out the most advanced version of its property app to date, with the under-construction complex (prez Rhonda Slavik can't tell us the project yet) being the first to adopt version two. Tenants can manage a guest list for the glitterati, er, Twitterati of S.F. to control who can—and can't—come in their unit. The app will also let residents call up their car, valet style, from their couch. Rhonda, who's overseen sales and marketing for over 3,500 urban condos and over $2B in West Coast sales, first launched the app in October with ULM's CEO Bill Fishkin at faculty-geared rentals called Stanford West.

Its purpose is threefold: distill property highlights (available units, floor plans), info about the 'hood, and push notifications. Now 10 multifamily projects are on board, with another 12 in development. Rhonda says a big piece of buying and renting, especially amongst Millennials, is not just whether there's a nice gym or wood floors—but what's around it. (Varnish?) She helps identify the 30 best venues in the area. From there the app updates residents on pressing info like Giants games, a wine bar having a happy hour up the street, or a hot concert at the Fillmore. Push notifications let management blast out property events (be there for our Sunday brunch!) or day-to-day tidbits (FYI, garage gates aren't working).

Local clients include Bridgewater, Trumark Urban and Mill Creek, whose future The Gantry apartment complex in Dogpatch (pictured) is on board. The app's social component works well in urban areas, she says, and other properties include downtown LA's Evo South and Alexandria, Va.'s Hunting Point on the Potomac. Pricing for the app includes one-time setup fees that range from $1,500 to $4,000, and monthly fees are $150 to $600 per month, depending on the project's scope.