Greystar Property Is Now a Smart Apartment Community

Andrew Livingstone with Greystar on Smart Apartment Technology

by | May 3, 2021 | Internet of Things

Access and smart home technology are now an “absolute must have” not a “nice to have.”

Greystar’s 2bayshore property has been transformed into a smart apartment community.

The pandemic created a large shift in how we operate. It moved us forward a decade and changed how we think about operating apartments. Forcing us to think more futuristically out of necessity, given the circumstances. Smart tech firmly created opportunities in apartment access, making entry a fundamental cornerstone.

Smart access and smart home technology are now an “absolute must have” not a “nice to have.” This technology won’t just be in some apartment buildings; it has to be in all the buildings.

Woman using iApartments Smart Home App to control smart thermostat
Woman using iApartments Smart Home App to control smart thermostat

There are many players in the smart apartment community space.

We’re still looking to find out who’s going to be Coke and who’s going to be Pepsi. Greystar is mostly a third-party management company and we’re working with owners who want to try this. We’re the No. 1 third-party management company in the country, and right now we have little-to-none of this technology in our portfolio.

As we look around, we realize we need to evolve. We need to find out what smart-apartment technology integrates the best, what kind of battery life these systems allow, and which types of after-hours services we provide.

We are using iApartments at 2bayshore.

As one of the premier buildings in the Tampa commercial business district. It’s in the “it” part of the neighborhood.

With iApartments’ smart access, the capabilities of working through the smart thermostat, the water detection, and additional plug-ins for things like lighting and Alexa devices are the kind of things our residents want. This makes iApartments a really intriguing option.

Even better, iApartments allows the community to solve for smart home technology without the community (or its owners) having to invest in building-wide Wi-Fi. Those kinds of networks can cost $600 to $2,000 per unit. We’re finding iApartments is working really well. I’ve seen it. I’ve spoken to the onsite teams. iApartments checks all the boxes without having to make a huge Wi-Fi investment.

Our maintenance teams love it. They can detect through dashboard alerts if an apartment home is having difficulty with its air-conditioning or humidity level. Our maintenance teams find this out when they come on to work at 7 a.m. Sometimes before a resident even knows they have a problem. Now they can get fix the issue right away.

Smart Apartment Dashboard

A smart apartment community dashboard allows managers to assign access to vacant apartment units and insight into the health of HVAC units. Each apartment unit contains smart sensors placed near HVAC units and high water damage risk areas. These sensors send proactive alerts to address high humidity areas and possible water leaks.

Growth for the future.

As we roll this technology out to more buildings, the communities’ onsite staff will work with it and let the smart-home technology providers grow and improve. Every owner wants to work with the best products. Some are earlier adopters than others.

Read More on Everything Smart Home, IOT, and Connectivity

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