REZI Takes Apartment Rental Model to Metro Washington
For its first project there, it will focus on workforce housing.
REZI, which provides lease-up and marketing services for apartment landlords in a model that it has dubbed occupancy-as-a-service, has expanded to the Washington, DC area and has plans to tackle the Texas market next.
It is helping to manage the lease-up process at North Hills Apartments which is a partnership of Dantes Community Partners and Jonathan Rose Companies. It is handling 73 units at the 26-building garden style community, which is located in District Heights, MD.
The deal contracts the apartments directly to REZI to manage all sales, marketing, and leasing activities.
REZI guarantees occupancy on a multiyear basis because of its tech platform, explains CRO Tom Smith. The platform allows prospective tenants to tour, apply and sign leases, effectively cutting in half the amount of time a new developer expects to lease up a building, he tells GlobeSt.com. The landlord can pass on those savings, namely the fees and agents, onto the tenants.
REZI has also expanded to New York, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and Chicago.
The company opted to make the metro Washington, DC area its next stop because of its strong employment and the lack of awareness around workforce housing opportunities, Smith says. “Especially with the focus on the luxury side of the market, the ability to use tech to expose the workforce pricing segment” will be valued in the market, he says. “That segment is really an underserved side of the market.” For instance, with North Hills, tenants can secure a three-bedroom apartment for under $2,000 in a newly renovated unit, he explains.