The Lease-Up

Arqline Property Management was formed in 2026, after residential technology platform Alfred acquired and merged RKW Residential and A Residential (formerly Quarterra Living).

For this episode of Management Diaries, Arqline President Kevin Owens shares how the firms navigated the integration, and why aligning people and processes turned out to be harder than aligning the tech.

He discusses the three-part framework his company uses to decide what can be automated, what to centralize and what should stay with a human.

Owens prefers simplicity over complex tools or systems. As he puts it, “Things can sound really smart when they're complex. They also aren't very easy to execute."

Here are a few highlights from this episode:

• (5:18) Why cultural alignment was a critical part of the merger
• (11:37) How structured feedback loops drive better outcomes
• (13:29) Why following through matters more than the feedback itself
• (20:22) What operators need to pay attention to moving forward
• (17:45) What “Property Management 3.0” looks like and what it means for operators

From fighting food insecurity to advancing housing affordability, Rebecca Ely has built her path around one core idea: Real change happens when you connect resources with the people who need them most and invite others to step into that mission.

Now Director of Resource Development at Operation Pathways, the resident services arm of The NHP Foundation, Ely operates at the crossroads of affordable housing, philanthropy and community impact.

In this episode of Mission Success: Women in Multifamily, MHN’s Laura Valean sits down with Ely to explore what leadership actually looks like behind the scenes, from navigating expectations as a woman in the industry to now contributing to a broader shift where resident services are finally being recognized as essential, not optional.

Creativity is becoming a decisive advantage in New York City multifamily marketing, where intense competition and shifting renter expectations demand more than traditional campaigns. In a city defined by high supply, fast-moving lease-ups and demanding renters, standing out requires more than attractive amenities.

Across the country, multifamily teams are rethinking how to attract and retain residents, but nowhere is the need for originality more urgent than in New York. From luxury high-rises to mixed-income communities, successful campaigns increasingly rely on authenticity, hyperlocal insight and experiences that resonate beyond traditional advertising.

What’s clear is that creativity in New York City multifamily marketing isn’t about flashy campaigns. It’s about clarity, originality and understanding renter behavior—whether for a luxury apartment, a boutique rental, or a large mixed-use project.

This episode of Multi-Housing News’ Top Marketers podcast explores how innovative approaches to New York City multifamily marketing translate into measurable lease-up results.

Joining us is Michelle Easterlin, vice president of leasing and marketing at Avery Hall, who also manages high-profile Brooklyn projects including 544 Carroll, a luxury rental bridging Gowanus and Park Slope. With a fashion background and years of experience in New York City multifamily marketing and leasing, she brings a consumer-driven perspective that blends creative branding, problem-solving and on-the-ground strategy.

Previously, Easterlin led leasing for Nancy Packes and advised on One Boerum Place, while her brokerage experience at Compass and Douglas Elliman generated over $150M in GCI.

Key topics include how innovative multifamily leasing strategies, authentic branding and community engagement can drive performance in the highly competitive New York City rental market.

• From Fashion to Real Estate (01:35)
• Defining Creativity in NYC (04:23)
• NYC Market Reality Check (06:47)
• Authentic Marketing That Sells (10:10)
• Resident Events That Retain (16:54)
• Selling Lifestyle Over Units (20:13)

Savas Karas, COO & Chief Transformation Officer at CAPREIT, discusses why so many tech-forward initiatives stall or fail in property management.

With more than 30 years of management and technology leadership experience, he shares his approach to aligning strategy with execution, from observing on-site teams firsthand to eliminating the hidden workarounds that drain employees.

Listen to hear his advice on where to start if your organization has never had a formal change management plan. Here are some of the topics we cover:

• (3:31) Why you should begin with the end in mind before launching any initiative
• (4:53) The importance of failing fast and redeploying resources quickly
• (7:52) How observing on-site teams can reveal hidden friction and inefficiencies
• (18:06) Why skipping change management derails transformation efforts
• (19:21) Why one-and-done training doesn't work and what to do instead
• (26:20) How to define success as an organization before investing in change

What keeps great employees from leaving, especially when they have every reason and opportunity to do so?

In this episode of Mission Success: Women in Multifamily, Multi-Housing News Senior Editor Laura Valean sits down with Christine Gilmore, vice president of learning and development at Bell Partners, to unpack one of the industry’s most persistent challenges: retention. And not just any retention—the kind that keeps your best people engaged, growing and, most importantly, staying.

At a time when housing affordability debates are often driven more by perception than data, taking a closer look at what’s actually behind a rent payment matters more than ever. The National Apartment Association’s Dollar of Rent tool provides a clear, data-driven view of the expenses tied to operating a multifamily property, drawing on tens of thousands of audited, property-level financial statements.

In this episode of NAA Insights, host Laura Valean, senior editor at Multi-Housing News, sits down with Leah Cuffy, director of advocacy research at NAA, to explore how the tool can be used in practice.

Student housing’s fundamentals are as familiar as ever: high occupancy, steady demand, a pipeline that’s still selective, but the real story in 2026 is where the wins are concentrating and how investors are underwriting them. Harrison Street Asset Management, one of the largest owners in the sector, is leaning into that shift with strategic moves and fresh momentum.In this episode of Student Housing Unlocked, Senior Associate Editor Olivia Bunescu is joined by Beau Garot, co-head of education transactions in North America at Harrison Street Asset Management, to unpack what that activity says about the market right now. They also touch on why flagships remain the focus, the redefinition of affordability and what precision looks like as debt gets more attractive and competition returns.

Here’s what they discussed:

• Three trends shaping 2026 student housing (01:24)
• Why owner–operator alignment matters more right now (02:00)
• Rent growth normalizes, efficiency matters (04:35)
• Debt is improving and competition is returning to deals (05:32)
• How they’re reading demand today (06:25)
• Concentrated supply, bigger projects (07:39)
• The “Power Four Plus” thesis (08:43)
• Testing demand durability before the asset (09:45)
• How does precision underwriting look in practice? (10:56)
• 2026 advice: don’t overpay (14:09)

Few people in the multifamily industry have a better bird’s eye view of multifamily tech than Kevin Donnelly, executive director and chief advocacy officer of the Real Estate Technology and Transformation Center. In this inaugural episode of MHN Tech Pulse, Donnelly outlines the state of multifamily technology and speculates what the next few years will look like.

“We’re in a period of acceleration, and I don’t really see that slowing down,” Donnelly tells Multi-Housing News Associate Editor Matthew Kaufman. The industry veteran sees technology as a key tool in addressing the nation’s housing and affordability crisis, and he views AI in particular as a way to increase efficiency while leading to better renter experiences.

Here are some highlights of the conversation:

(00:58): An overview of RETTC and its goals

(03:05): Donnelly’s background

(06:02): Where the industry stands with tech adoption

(08:23): Operational & economic pressures driving tech investment

(10:46): Policy pressures

(14:06): The role of AI

(21:47): What’s next?

In this episode, Cerwin Thompson, VP of facilities at RPM Living, and Avery Rouse, regional maintenance director at The Breeden Co. discuss how they’re navigating the staffing challenges in maintenance operations and the strategies they’re implementing.

Both leaders started in on-site roles and worked their way up to corporate leadership. Now, they see technicians entering the talent pipeline who lack some of those basic skills that are so important for day-to-day community maintenance.

Focusing on the fundamentals and sequential training is what’s needed to strengthen teams from the ground up.

Here are some of the topics we cover:

(3:20) The current state of the maintenance workforce

(5:04) Recruiting strategies that work

(7:58) How to prevent burnout and create support systems

(9:53) Which factors most impact retention

(14:37) How training can reveal employee mentality and buildcollaboration

(18:00) Why rushing promotions without basic skills can leadto failure

(26:36) What the industry needs to do differently

With a background spanning architecture, design, cultural tourism, teaching and public service, Innovative Housing Opportunities CEO Rochelle Mills brings a holistic lens to development—one that views housing not simply as "heads and beds," but as a catalyst for thriving, high-performing communities.In this deeply personal conversation with MHN Senior Editor Laura Valean for the Mission Success: Women in Multifamily podcast, Mills opens up about the realities of working in affordable housing, sharing hard-earned lessons on leadership, bias, responsibility and why mission-driven work must be grounded in honesty, resilience and hope.