March 24, 2025

Welcome to People and Properties, the Cohen-Esrey newsletter where we celebrate the successes of our team members and keep you informed about what is happening in the Cohen-Esrey world. If you have something you would like to share or an achievement that you would like to celebrate, please send it to Lee Harris at lharris@cohenesrey.com. If you are on a property, please print and distribute this newsletter to each member of your property team. You can also find People and Properties on KnowledgeNet. Click here to view previous editions.

Living With History

Once a textile mill built in 1884, the Oneida Mill Lofts were born in 2017, after the completion of a $17 million historic renovation. The result is 133 affordable housing units in Graham, NC. Apartments are filled with light from huge windows, providing a connection with the outdoors. The adaptive re-use preserved much of the historic character of the buildings, leaving patina on the walls and creating 27 different floor plans. The construction team was able to save artifacts from the old mill such as fire doors, ladders, and a scale that are on display as pieces of art around the property. Oneida Mill features Energy Star-driven units, a community center with open WiFi, a game room, a fitness center, laundry rooms, a playground, and a grilling pavilion. The entire development also is accessible for all residents. Washer/dryer hookups are available and hardwood floors are standard. One-bedroom units average 701 square feet and rent for $720 per month. Two-bedroom apartments average 934 square feet and rent for $815 per month. The Cohen-Esrey Development Group (CEDG) and Third Wave Housing co-developed the property. It is managed by Cohen-Esrey Communities (CEC). Occupancy runs 98 – 100% and the property makes a strong showing on the NPS Leaderboard.

Graham is a city and the county seat of Almanance County in North Carolina. It’s 2020 population was 17,153 and the town is part of the Burlington, NC MSA. Graham was incorporated as a town in 1851 and became a city in 1961. It was named for William Alexander Graham, a U.S. senator from North Carolina (1840-1843) and governor (1845-1849). The town is located in the north central part of the state approximately 50 miles south of the Virginia state border. Manufacturing is a cornerstone of Graham’s economy including textiles, chemicals, and equipment production. The health care sector is the largest employer in the city.

Aisha Robinson (2023) is the Property Manager and Cassie Colston (2004), Regional Vice-President, serves as the Regional Manager. Dominic Padilla (2024) is the Property Accountant and Seerat Imtiaz (2025) is the Accounting Assistant.

We welcome the following new team members to Cohen-Esrey and the Nexus 5 Group.

Melissa Price – Renaissance Plaza, Texarkana, TX – Property Manager
Adrian Reyes – Preserve at Westover Hills, San Antonio, TX – Maintenance Technician
Joshua Ainsworth – Preserve at Westover Hills, San Antonio, TX – Assistant Property Manager
Thierry Eslinger – Panorama Heights, Colorado Springs, CO – Assistant Property Manager
Octavio Morin – Woolworth Estates, Omaha, NE – Maintenance Technician
Donald Davis – Town Square, Vermillion, SD – Maintenance Technician
Michael Langford – Perry 81, Overland Park, KS – Make Ready Technician

Meet the Skyline Team

Meet the Skyline team. (L to R) Aaron Nickel (2025) Maintenance Technician; Kim Lewis (2025) Property Manager; and Dori Kolterman (2025) HUD Services Coordinator.

Cohen-Esrey Communities (CEC) manages the 92-unit Skyline Apartments, an affordable community in Norfolk, NE, for a third-party client.

Transformational Construction

Construction continues at Cohen-Esrey Development Group (CEDG) future communities.

Residents are moving in at Panorama Heights in Colorado Springs, CO. Look at all the rooftop solar panels!

Putting the finishing touches on The Launchpad in Colorado Springs, CO.

Temporary Certificates of Occupancy have been issued for both buildings at the Loma Vista Lofts in San Antonio, TX, and work is starting on the swimming pool.

Amazing progress with vertical construction at the Lofts at Creekview in San Antonio, TX.

A Temporary Certificate of Occupancy is anticipated for early April at Lewis Lofts in Mankato, MN.

Clubhouse renovations continue at Village Park in Amarillo, TX.

Construction is moving along rapidly at the Heritage at Cottonwood Creek in San Marcos, TX.

Building a massive retaining wall is slow going at Overlook 157 in Asheville, NC, but absolutely necessary to stabilize the site.

Congratulations Jayme!

Karen Crouch (2019), Managing Director of Cohen-Esrey Communities (CEC), is pleased to announce the promotion of Jayme Dannen-Deal to Regional Vice-President in the Affordable Division. Jayme will oversee the third-party management portfolio consisting of more than 50 properties in eight states.

Jayme joined Cohen-Esrey in January 2024 as a Regional Manager in the Affordable Division. She began working in this industry in 2002 performing maintenance for a small 54-unit community in Ottumwa, IA. While her husband was in the Army and moving around the United States, Jayme managed single family homes in Texas and a small hotel and campground in Northeastern, Colorado. Work eventually brought her family back to Iowa where she was introduced to the affordable community world in 2017. She worked as an Assistant Regional Manager and Compliance Specialist and then in July of 2020, began working for Artisan Management Group as a Community Manager. While working for Artisan, Jayme held the titles of Senior Property Manager, Compliance Director of Affordable Properties, and Regional Manager of the Kansas City/Lawrence Region. She also played a large role in assisting the software company, AppFolio, build-out their LIHTC program that launched at the National Apartment Association in June 2023.

She earned her Tax Credit Certification, Iowa Real Estate License, and has her Bachelor and Master of Science degrees from the American Public University System.

Jayme worked hard to earn this promotion, and we applaud her efforts. Congratulations, Jayme!

Congratulations Shlonda Fields!

Karen Crouch (2019), Managing Director of Cohen-Esrey Communities (CEC) has announced the promotion of Shlonda Fields to Operations Support Manager in the Affordable Division. Shlonda was previously the Property Manager at the Sunset Apartments in Texarkana, TX. Her property management career began in 2015 at a multi-family HUD property. She quickly developed a passion for affordable housing and has since become an expert in stabilizing properties. Shlonda is dedicated to professional growth and continuous improvement which makes her a valuable asset to our team.

As an Operations Support Manager, Shlonda’s roles and accountabilities include:

Assisting and preparing responses to MOR, state and other inspections and file reviews as assigned.
Ensuring that all files are processed and maintained in a timely manner, including repayment agreements and special claims (for affordable properties).
Performing file audits.
Prepping for MOR, state and REAC inspections and file reviews.
Coordinating funding requests as needed.
Ensuring invoices and deposits are properly entered and processed in a timely manner.
Ensuring site staff sends all files to collections in a timely manner or assist as assigned.
Follow through on ledger, invoice and accounts receivable corrections and clean up as assigned.
Monitoring on-site management of delinquencies and eviction regardless of reason for lease violation.
Reporting to property owners/investor/asset managers according to scheduled requirements as needed or assigned.
Obtaining bids and managing capital projects.
Forecasting upcoming renewals and potential vacancies.
Coaching, counseling, developing and inspiring team members.
Completing annual performance reviews.
Onboarding and orienting new team members.
Setting expectations aligned with KPIs.

Please join us in congratulating Shlonda on her promotion!

Way to Go, Val!

Congratulations to Val Quezada (2024), Recruiter, on becoming Certified by Caliper. Cohen-Esrey has used Caliper Assessments to assist in hiring since 2003. Becoming certified required completing all necessary coursework and attending remote training over the course of several weeks. Some of the information included was how to leverage the Caliper Assessment insights to make intelligent talent decisions across recruitment, onboarding, training, succession planning, leadership development and team building. Val received in-depth information to read and analyze the Caliper assessments. Great work, Val!

Congratulations, Erin!

Karen Crouch (2019), Managing Director of Cohen-Esrey Communities (CEC) has announced the promotion of Erin Hamel (2023) to Regional Manager in the Affordable Division.

Erin joined Cohen-Esrey in December 2023 as the Property Manager of the Pam Apartments in Pampa, TX. During her time at the Pam, she and her team provided Customer Fulfillment at such a high level that the property now sits in First Place on the NPS Leaderboard for properties 51 to 120 units. Furthermore, she has maintained occupancy at or near 100% and has had similar success with collections.

Erin was born in Oklahoma and spent her formative years in the beautiful surroundings of Hawaii. In 2005, she relocated to Texas, where she embraced her role as a mother, raising four children while simultaneously carving out a successful career. Erin’s commitment to education culminated in her earning a bachelor’s degree in general studies with a focus on sociology from West Texas A&M University and is currently working towards her master's degree.

She accumulated 25 years of management experience before embarking on her property management journey in December 2023. Erin has consistently delivered on Cohen-Esrey’s Core Values, especially with Team Member Fulfillment, where she has been willing to travel and lend her expertise to other properties whenever needed.

Please join us in celebrating with Erin on her hard-earned promotion!

A Very Meaningful Community Impact Project

By Kathleen Williams (2022), Corporate Accounting Assistant

We are excited to support the boys and girls at CASA of Johnson and Wyandotte Counties by assembling special Birthday Boxes. These boxes will provide children in foster care with everything they need to celebrate their special day—a small but meaningful way to bring joy and recognition to each child.

CASA stands for Court-Appointed Special Advocates and makes a life-changing difference for children who have experienced abuse or neglect. Each volunteer is appointed by a judge to advocate for a child’s best interest in court.

Our goal is to assemble 100 Birthday Boxes, and we need your help! We are collecting the following donation items:

Boxed cake mix**
Frosting **
Birthday candles (regular boxes, not number candles)
Sprinkles
Cupcake or cake toppers/figurines
Party decorations – streamers, packs of balloons, etc.
Tissue paper, gift wrap, birthday stationary

** Please no refrigerated food and ensure items are shelf stable for at least 1-Year**

Extra donations will be given directly to CASA to support future birthday celebrations. Every contribution, big or small, makes a difference!

How to Donate:

Please bring your donations to the counter next to the Cohen Room in the Corporate Office from Monday, March 10 through Friday, April 11. If you work on a property outside the Kansas City area, you can find a similar organization in your community and undertake a project like this.

Thank you for helping us bring joy to these children. Let’s make birthdays extra special this year!

How to Become Mentally Tougher

By R. Lee Harris (1975), President and CEO

On May 15, 1963, astronaut Gordon Cooper blasted into space on Mercury-Atlas 9. The Mercury capsule was 10.8 feet long and 6.0 feet wide. The duration was 34 hours and 19 minutes 46 seconds at a maximum velocity of 17,547 miles per hour and an altitude of 166 miles.

Alex Honnold is a world-renowned big wall free solo rock climber. He is particularly famous for climbing Yosemite’s Triple Crown – The Nose (El Capitan), Mt. Watkins and The Regular Northwest Face of Half Dome – completed in 18-hours and 50-minutes. Free solo climbing is done without ropes, pitons, or carabiners.

Navy Commander Jeremiah Denton was a POW in North Vietnam for eight years (1965-1973) four of which were in solitary confinement. He was forced to participate in a 1966 televised press conference during which he blinked the letters T-O-R-T-U-R-E in Morse code. After his release from captivity, he retired at the rank of Rear Admiral and became a U.S. senator from Alabama.

What is the common thread that runs through all three of these individuals? Of course, their physical stamina is obvious. But perhaps even more amazing is their mental toughness. I cannot imagine what it would have been like stuck in a tiny Mercury capsule all by myself hurtling through space at an incredible speed. What if something went wrong and I could not get back down? Or how about being 2,300 feet up the 3,000-foot face of El Capitan with no ropes or anchors and suddenly feeling sick? And being tortured and isolated for years in a prison camp is incomprehensible. Without mental grit, think about how easy it would have been to go stark-raving mad in each of these situations and just totally lose it.

Fortunately, we are generally not faced with situations that threaten our mortality. But developing a strong mental state is critical to our entrepreneurial success. There are many situations that we encounter that call for mental toughness. If we waver or lose our way, we can lose a whole lot – financially, in terms of relationships, team members and reputation.

Exactly what should we do to become mentally tougher? First, how do we contemplate and deal with failure? Failing is actually a crossroads for us. When something doesn’t work the way we had planned we have a choice to make. We either give up or we get back up and keep trying. Feelings of pain and discomfort create patterns that our brain wants to avoid in the future. True progress is made when we decide to move forward past the pain and into a state of endurance.

Second, we need to identify the self-imposed limitations that hold us back. Do we have routines that have become ruts? If we keep pushing the goal, we achieve real growth. Breaking out of

old habits and happily accepting new challenges is mentally stimulating and helps us become conditioned for success. As is always the case, constantly maintaining a positive attitude is an enormous step toward becoming mentally tough.

Finally, we visualize the result then write the script for the journey to get there. Mental toughness cannot be achieved aimlessly. We must have an end game in mind. Gordon Cooper wanted to finish the mission and get home safely. Alex Honnold wanted to get to the summit of El Capitan. Jeremiah Denton wanted to put his feet back on American soil. In each case they had a clear objective and kept it front and center at all times.

To become mentally tough, we embrace failure and use it to create endurance. We discard self-imposed limitations and through positivity, set the table for success. Ultimately, we paint a clear picture of what our success will look like and then execute the strategy and tactics that take us there.

Cohen-Esrey Welcomes Jonathan Brown

Brent Phillips (2021), Maintenance and Safety Director, has announced that Jonathan Brown has joined Cohen-Esrey Communities (CEC) as the Roving Maintenance Supervisor. The company had a roving maintenance department for many years until it was merged into the Nexus 5 Group. Recently, Nexus 5 has exited the maintenance service business to focus solely on its construction initiatives. As a result, CEC is re-constituting its Roving Maintenance Department to serve apartment communities in and around the Kansas City area.

Jon grew up in Jacksonville, FL, but relocated to the Midwest in 2016. His work background includes a mix of customer service and maintenance positions with the past eight years as a Maintenance Supervisor at a 200-unit property in North Kansas City.

Jon is an avid outdoorsman enjoying fishing, hiking, and camping. Last August he fulfilled a lifelong dream of becoming a Jeep owner and spends most of his free time “wheeling” or, off-roading in Jeep-speak.

In his new role, Jon will help build a growing team of Maintenance Technicians that will supplement on-site maintenance personnel and serve as an interim (and less expensive) step before bringing in outside contractors for various maintenance functions. This will be especially helpful for properties that have a vacant maintenance position, have projects that need additional expertise, or can cover for vacations and sick leave.

Welcome to Cohen-Esrey, Jon! There’s certainly plenty of work to be done!

An Empowerment Story

By Pam Weatherford (2016), Operations Support Manager

Pam Weatherford, (2016), is an Operations Support Manager for Cohen-Esrey Communities (CEC). Here is what she has to say about her Empowerment:

“My story with Cohen-Esrey began in October 2016, when I started as a part-time Property Manager after the passing of my husband of 33 years. It quickly became clear that part-time work didn’t provide the insurance or the financial support I needed. I shared my situation with my Regional Manager, who allowed me to travel to various properties in her portfolio, giving me the opportunity to work full-time and gain insurance coverage.

I managed my property, Grant School (in St. Louis), while also traveling to other sites to assist with properties that lacked a Property Manager and to train new managers. In 2019, I received the leadership award at the company’s Annual Leadership Conference. However, I learned that Grant School would be sold, and there wouldn’t be a traveling position available, meaning my time with Cohen-Esrey would come to an end when the property sold.

In 2020, alongside my responsibilities at Grant School, I became a full-time Property Manager at Freedom Place (in St. Louis). I managed two properties while still traveling and training as needed. In 2022, after Grant School was sold, I was honored with the NPS Award. In 2023, I earned my COS certification. By 2024, I transitioned from Freedom Place to the Operations Support position, where I’ve played a key role in training other OPS staff, Property Managers, and Assistant Property Managers. I’ve also contributed to MORs, assisted with lease-ups, and helped resolve late recertifications. In the coming weeks, I’ll be earning my HCCP certification.

I’m excited for the next step in my Cohen-Esrey journey, whether that means moving into a Regional Manager position or asset management. As they say, when you love your job, it doesn’t feel like work. I truly love what I do—the challenges, the adventure, the Core Values, and the incredible people at Cohen-Esrey. It's inspiring to see how the Core Values are upheld throughout the organization, from leadership down, with leadership always there to support us in our efforts. Life has a way of changing direction, and I’ve learned that anything is possible if you set a goal and work toward it. Cohen-Esrey has Empowered Me to Thrive through promotions, supporting me with my training, and being flexible with me as needed.

What’s kept me motivated throughout this journey are a few things: my favorite book, The Little Engine That Could, my faith, and my determination to always be my best. My favorite motto is: “Good, better, best, never let it rest until your good is better, and your better is your best.”

A Fun Photo!

Here’s a photo from Halloween 2008 at the Corporate Office. Very creative costumes back then as is still the case today.

This is How It’s Done . . .

By Arley Hoskin (2022), Leasing Performance Strategist

With over 15 years of property management experience, Christina Martin (2023) hit the ground running when she became Property Manager at Orchard View 1 and 2. Martin has been at Cohen-Esrey for two years, with a small break in the middle. Her properties operate at 100% occupancy and there is a year-long waitlist.“We are a tax-credit property,” she said. “We don’t have vacancies for long because our wait list is extensive.”

Martin said she decided to join the team at Cohen-Esrey because the Orchard View properties are so much closer to her house than the previous property she had managed. Before coming to Orchard View Martin drove one hour and 20 minutes each way to work. “I couldn’t do it anymore,” she said.

The Orchard View properties are in Farmington, Missouri, about 90 minutes from St. Louis. Orchard View 1 has 40 units and Orchard View 2 has 56 units.

Martin may have signed up to work at Orchard View for convenience, but she quickly learned that she loved the properties. “The people are so nice,” she said. “They take care of each other. They look out for each other.” And Martin does an excellent job taking care of her residents. “The residents love her, she will go above and beyond to help when needed,” said Carolyn Henson (2021), Martin’s Regional Manager.

Henson said what stands out the most about Martin is her Commitment to her property and her residents. Martin said her advice to other Property Managers is to maintain good relationships with their residents. “Having a good rapport with the residents really helps keep the property running smoothly,” Martin said. “I have several lines of communication for the residents so that they can get in touch with me at any time.”

Martin works with her Maintenance Technician, Todd Umfleet (2005). Together they keep Orchard View 1 and 2 filled with happy residents as evidenced by an Net Promoter Score (NPS) in excess of +80.

Martin’s final piece of advice for other Property Managers centers around the Cohen-Esrey Core Value of Integrity. “Follow up and follow through,” she said. “If you say you are going to do something, do it.”