Doreen Jaworski
MIAMI—As the COVID-19 pandemic started sweeping through the US in early March and states officially or unofficially began lockdowns, many normal activities gradually ceased at apartment communities. One company, TRG Management, the property management division within Miami-based The Related Group, is trying to replace activities with virtual amenities in order to maintain a sense of community.
"We had to close our amenities down," Doreen Jaworski, head of TRG Management, tells GlobeSt.com. "We have this amazing group of people working in senior management, including our marketing team and regional managers. We got together and immediately created a type of virtual event calendar that we could get out to residents to substitute for the fact that we could have in-person gatherings anymore. It took us about four days to get up and running and have our first virtual cooking class."
Now, there is a full schedule of virtual activities every day. Jaworski says the mission was to get residents' minds off the new normal and to focus on the event or task at hand.
"The residents are loving the ideas," Jaworski says. "We are getting good feedback, thank you emails and some really good reviews."
Virtual classes include a "jam fitness session" on Mondays and Wednesdays during lunch and a jazz happy hour on Sundays. Games such as virtual bingo and trivia, as well as a "TikTok dance challenge and contests to see who can create the best indoor picnic spread. There are also cooking classes where a chef prepares a meal and residents can cook along. Story time is available for kids.
TRG is doing the virtual amenities at its properties in Atlanta, Tampa and South Florida. Residents from every community can join the same event.
"We are thinking of new things to do every day," Jaworski says.
Overall, residents are holding up pretty well, according to Jaworski. Some are concerned about rent and other bills. TRG contacts them individually, and if needed, works out payment plans.
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
