Acacia Capital

Acacia Capital Embraces Parcel Pending

Situation

Acacia Capital is a real estate investment firm based in San Mateo, Calif. with extensive experience owning and operating apartments in major markets across the Western U.S. Throughout its 32-year history, Acacia has invested in nearly 30,000 apartment units.

Like most major players in the real estate space, Acacia Capital recognized that the boom in online shopping was resulting in a major increase in the number of packages the residents of its properties received. To that end, the company decided to take a closer look at its package management process and in doing so discovered that it could be improved.

At first, the company had its property management staff oversee the entire package management process from soup to nuts. This meant that its staff was spending valuable time – upwards of 15 percent of their days – retrieving, storing, and handing over packages to residents who would come into the office during business hours to obtain their packages. This led to multiple interruptions and an unsightly mess near the front desk with each of its 600+ properties receiving upwards of 40 packages each day! As a company that prides itself on striving to stay ahead of technology and trends, Acacia knew that it was time to find a better solution.

Action

In late 2016, Acacia began adding Parcel Pending lockers to its properties to help solve its package management issues. Acacia opted to work with Parcel Pending due to the company’s deep real estate roots.

“There are parcel locker companies out there who claim to have an understanding of the industry but in reality, they fall short of the background, experience, and real estate chops that Parcel Pending has to offer,” stated George P. Dobbel Jr., Senior Vice President Asset Management at Acacia Capital. “Parcel Pending is led by CEO Lori Torres who has 25+ years of real estate experience under her belt, and she is supported by a phenomenal team of executives who also come from the industry so they truly understand our issues better than most. They strive hard to problem-solve and offer smart solutions.” Now, with the Parcel Pending lockers, when a package arrives at an Acacia property, the courier places it into a safe and secure Parcel Pending smart locker, and residents are notified – by text and/or email – and provided a unique passcode for the locker that they can access privately at any time.

“These parcel lockers are the number one amenity for our residents and they help give us a competitive edge in our industry,” Dobbel said. “In fact, our investors often ask us about our Parcel Pending lockers during property tours because they too recognize the boom in online shopping and they are intrigued with this effective package management solution.”

Results

Acacia residents and property managers view Parcel Pending lockers as a major advantage:

“I think it’s safe to say that nearly 100% of our residents are very satisfied with the Parcel Pending lockers because they offer convenience and security. Residents no longer have to rush home or adjust their personal schedules around our office hours just to pick up their packages. They can now retrieve their packages at their leisure. This is clearly the case as an average of 94% of our residents pick up their packages during non-business hours,” stated Dobbel.

“What’s more, is that now our property management team can stop wasting precious time on managing packages and get down to the nitty-gritty of offering the best customer service. For example, they now have time to send that personalized email or text, or to make that follow-up call and all of this is what helps to drive leasing and improve customer service to keep our current residents happy,” continued Dobbel.

“Parcel Pending’s installation was easy and we customize their lockers and our package rooms to make it exciting and fun for residents. I love their customer service and know that Parcel Pending has my back for anything I need,” said Dobbel. The initial Parcel Pending lockers that were rolled out in 2016 were so well-received by residents that Acacia decided to continue to roll them out at their properties in 2017, which included Parcel Pending’s refrigerated lockers.

Acacia is continuing to roll out Parcel Pending lockers at its properties in 2018.

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Parcel Pending, the leading provider of innovative package management solutions for multifamily communities, was founded with a simple goal in mind: to make package delivery easy and intuitive for everyone. With nearly 4 million packages delivered monthly, we offer a wide range of solutions that ensure convenient, secure, contact-free resident package retrieval.