City Lights Apartments
City Lights Apartments: A decade of innovation and resident service in package management
In 2014, City Lights Apartments, a 793-unit community owned by Shea Properties in Aliso Viejo, California, redefined package delivery for its residents by becoming the very first customer to install Parcel Pending smart lockers.
This forward-thinking initiative helped to transform package management into a seamless component of City Lights’ service excellence, underscoring its industry-leading commitment to resident satisfaction and operational efficiency. Over the course of the community’s 10-year partnership with Parcel Pending, City Lights’ lockers have received an estimated 300,000 packages and serviced approximately 25,000 residents. That adds up to time savings of 30 hours per week, and up to 120 hours per week during the holiday peak period.
City Lights’ pioneering package convenience with Parcel Pending
2014-2020: Initial pilot and early expansion
City Lights becomes an innovator in package management, installing three locker towers to automate package retrieval for residents and alleviate the strain on staff.
2020-2022: Strategic scaling during a global shift
In response to rising package volumes and safety concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic, City Lights expanded its locker system with additional towers and a dedicated package room. This forward-thinking initiative prioritized resident safety and enabled contactless move-ins.
2020-Present: Optimizing for the future
Today, City Lights’ lockers are a top-used amenity at the community. Now providing 29 strategically located locker towers to serve residents’ needs, their solution delivers easy access for residents and carriers alike. Their commitment to continual improvement ensures they can meet rising demand while delivering exceptional service.
Meeting package management challenges head-on
City Lights Apartments has continually deployed innovative strategies to address the challenges of modern package delivery, driven by their commitment to customer-focused service and proactive planning.
Before adding lockers, City Lights faced the ever-increasing, and at times overwhelming, challenge of manually handling large volumes of packages, creating a significant burden on staff and complicating timely delivery for residents. By automating package retrieval with Parcel Pending lockers and implementing policies like mandatory resident registration during move-in, City Lights alleviated staff workload while ensuring a seamless experience for residents.
Overflow and oversized packages posed another challenge, but City Lights met this issue with strategic foresight, repurposing storage rooms and implementing comprehensive procedures to keep packages accessible without disruption.
To the team at City Lights, package management is more than just a convenience-based amenity – it is an investment in a critical tool to provide operational efficiency for staff and ease for residents. These efforts illustrate City Lights’ commitment to maximizing the return on their locker system investment and maintaining superior service.
Maximizing resident registration drives sustained success
The success of City Lights Apartments in package management is deeply rooted in their dual commitment to advanced technology and hands-on service. City Lights recognizes that lockers are not merely an amenity; they are a powerful tool that, when strategically managed, provides lasting value.
To ensure comprehensive and efficient usage of the lockers, City Lights asks that new residents register for Parcel Pending lockers as part of their community onboarding process. This has contributed to a 98% resident registration rate. Further, the property’s dedication extends beyond installation—staff takes a hands-on approach to maintaining the lockers, which includes monitoring locker usage, ensuring carrier compliance with their package delivery requirements, and enforcing late package pick-up policies when necessary. This ensures the system functions smoothly and reinforces City Lights’ dedication to providing a resident-first experience. Their ability to adapt to changing needs with data-driven insights and their commitment to leveraging lockers as a strategic asset sets a new benchmark for property management. City Lights exemplifies how thoughtful policies and procedures can turn a simple amenity into a cornerstone of operational excellence and resident satisfaction.
Key takeaways:
- Proactive innovation: Addressing e-commerce growth early ensures smooth scalability
- Tech + human touch: Staff involvement optimizes locker operations
- Creative problem solving: Flexible spaces and procedures minimize disruption
- Data-driven insights: Regular policy updates improve efficiency
- Resident-centric policies: Transparent rules and personalized support build trust and loyalty
Championing a resident-first vision
For City Lights, package management transcends logistics; it is woven into the fabric of their resident services. With unwavering dedication, Shea Properties has extended these best practices across its portfolio. Residents know that each package delivery represents more than convenience; it reflects City Lights’ promise to make daily living extraordinary.
City Lights Apartments’ success underscores the importance of proactive planning and resident-focused innovation in multifamily living. Property managers can take inspiration from City Lights’ journey to create operational efficiency and elevate the resident experience.
Quadient is the leading provider of innovative parcel management solutions for multifamily communities, designed to make parcel deliveries easy and intuitive for everyone. With more than 100 years of innovation supporting our clients’ mail and parcel needs, Parcel Pending by Quadient solutions ensure safe, secure, and on-demand resident package retrieval.