Rob Couch explains how this company’s ability to listen to community needs fuels its growth in the booming senior housing market.

For many seniors, the burdens of home ownership become overwhelming, but when they begin searching for alternative living arrangements, they realize their choices are somewhat limited. They can move to a typical apartment complex where they may feel socially isolated, or join a senior living community, which offers amenities geared for older adults but may be too expensive for a retirement budet. First Centrum, a real estate development and management company based in Sterling, Va., is giving them another option.

“Our niche is to provide a retirement setting for individuals ages 55 and older who can’t afford or don’t want to live in more expensive retirement communities (with hefty upfront fees) or general apartment complexes with children and younger adults. Our apartment communities are geared toward those who want to live with others of the same age with the same interests and are affordable,” said Rob Couch, president of Centrum Management.

Centrum Management is the management arm of First Centrum, LLC, which also owns architectural firm Archon and construction firm APTCO. Since First Centrum, LLC was formed in the late ’70s to construct and manage affordable family housing, it has developed more than 210 projects totaling 12,000-plus rental units and has more on the way.

Open ears, open minds
While First Centrum had managed its own portfolio previously, Centrum Management came on the scene about seven years ago when the parent company moved from Michigan to Virginia. Today, Centrum Management oversees 42 properties ranging from 63 to 300 units throughout Maryland, Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia. According to Couch, all but two properties were designed and built by the First Centrum family of companies.

First Centrum’s properties offer seniors a long list of amenities, including community rooms for social activities, emergency response systems, fitness and health centers, hair salons, libraries, craft and game rooms, and keypad entry systems. Most allow pets, and several offer transportation services via private vans. Effective in late 2006, all Centrum Management properties became smoke-free for new residents—a first in the property management industry.

To keep housing affordable for middle-income seniors, the majority of First Centrum’s apartment communities were financed by the federal housing tax credit program, although it is adding more and more market-rate apartments to its portfolio. Market-rate apartments are slightly more expensive and offer a few more amenities, but are still a reasonably affordable option for retiring active adults.

More important than price is quality of life. Centrum Management engages residents via town meetings and questionnaires and responds to feedback. As a result, activity calendars are jam packed with activities of the residents’ choosing. “We offer everything from trips to museums to quilting classes to wealth seminars. We cater to as many needs as we can, and as a result, residents are never bored,” said Couch.

Empowerment and ingenuity
The level of engagement at First Centrum communities is fostered by the company’s values, which all 180 employees carry with them on a small card: integrity, dependability, empowerment, ingenuity, communication, consistency, loyalty, and respect. Also on that card is the “Platinum Rule,” a step up from the age-old Golden Rule. “We’re not just saying treat others as you wish to be treated. To deliver quality service, you need to treat customers as they want to be treated,” Couch said.

“We understand that the only reason we are employed is because our customers have chosen to live in our apartment communities. If we can’t make them happy, we are not going to be in business very long.”

That pocket-sized fold-out card packs a big punch with empowerment and ingenuity. Couch strongly believes that if employees are educated well, they will govern themselves, and he has implemented that philosophy with success. The company is split up across six states, and all community directors gather together once a year to set goals and share progress. Although they are encouraged to share best practices, management is well aware that what works in one community may not work in another.

“We adjust our programs and directives to meet each community’s needs—not what we think they need. Our community directors can take action quickly and serve their residents well due to the environment of ownership we’ve created,” said Couch.

Ingenuity plays an equal role to empowerment and, on several occasions, has saved the day. For example, the staff at one senior living community wanted to develop a wellness center for residents but they were constrained by a tight budget. In reaction, nearby communities donated equipment and labor to get the program up and running. “We are all in this together. It doesn’t matter who has what position—no one is afraid of rolling up their sleeves and getting the work done,” said Couch.

The president cited another example of a First Centrum community in Virginia that was suffering from a lack of demand for its numerous vacant one-bedroom apartments, while the need for two bedroom floor plans was increasing. The community examined the building plans and determined that 72 contiguous one- bedroom apartments could be converted into 36 two-bedroom floorplans. The result is more consumer interest and higher occupancy rates.

“A lot of companies get projects done by throwing a lot of money at them, but we don’t always have that luxury. We have to figure out how to get it done at a reasonable price, and that is why ingenuity is one of our main values,” Couch concluded.