Quickly leasing up urban lofts with easy-to-use self-tour technology custom-fit for younger renters.
Case Study
Case Study Results
“Tour24 provides us with the flexibility to allow prospects to conduct their own self-guided tours at Wrigleyville Lofts. This is particularly important at smaller properties where the operating budgets do not provide for a full-time leasing staff. Tour24 bridges that gap by allowing property touring seven days a week.”
James Losik, Director of Sales and Leasing, Draper & Kramer
Location
Chicago, Illinois
# of Units
120
Property Type
Mid-Rise
Tour24 Launch
November 2021
Background
Wrigleyville Lofts is a multifamily residential building in a bustling, urban Chicago neighborhood that is home to historic Wrigley Field. Featuring 120 one- and two-bedroom industrial-inspired lofts, the property was developed by Chicago-based Draper & Kramer and began leasing in August 2021.
Results
100% occupancy
100% centralized leasing
54% signed applications after tour
41% toured on the weekends
31% toured outside business hours
Challenge
Upon ribbon-cutting, Draper & Kramer appointed a full-time agent to handle the rush of applications at Wrigleyville Lofts. But with just 120 units, Draper & Kramer couldn’t justify hiring a full-time leasing staff for the property past the lease-up phase. The company made plans to centralize leasing activities, but they still needed a way to efficiently and securely take prospects — especially the predominantly younger, tech-savvy demographic interested in Wrigleyville Lofts — on physical tours of the property.
Solution
James Losik, Director of Sales and Leasing, who oversees the Wrigleyville Lofts, says he first heard about Tour24 at a conference and decided to implement Tour24 for several Chicago-area properties — right as the pandemic hit. “Fortunately, we had this product in place,” says Losik. “It allowed us to continue our leasing efforts. Prospects could view properties without a leasing agent when our staff were sheltering in place.”
Sold on the tool’s ability to solve the firm’s business challenges and satisfied with its operational security features, Draper & Kramer also opted to enable Tour24’s credit card hold feature, by which the property manager holds onto prospects’ credit card information to cover any potential damage incurred during a tour.
Results
With the tool’s efficacy demonstrated during the pandemic pilot tests, Tour24 was the natural solution to not only enable Draper & Kramer’s centralized leasing strategy, but to draw prospects in even when a leasing agent was assigned full-time to Wrigleyville Lofts.
As of December 2022, Wrigleyville Lofts has achieved 100% occupancy and 100% centralized leasing. All property tours are now managed exclusively with Tour24.
“Wrigleyville is this really high energy, very youthful neighborhood,” says Losik. “The demographic for this property was recent graduates, highly educated, tech-savvy, younger renters who aren’t intimidated by technology — they live and die by their phone. I’ve got millennial children myself, and they’d much rather not have to interact with a person. So we knew from the beginning that Tour24 was going to be the perfect property for this type of technology.”
Now, with the firm’s centralized leasing strategy for Wrigleyville fully in place, Losik says that the property has been relying on Tour24 as the property’s sole tour agent. “Tour24 provides us with the flexibility to allow prospects to conduct their own self-guided tours at Wrigleyville Lofts. This is particularly important at smaller properties where the operating budgets do not provide for a full-time leasing staff. Tour24 bridges that gap by allowing property touring seven days a week.”
Tour24 allows property companies to manage and streamline the entire prospect journey by automating the scheduling of tours, allowing prospective residents to visit properties on their own schedules, including after business hours and on weekends. Not only does this provide a better experience for people seeking new apartments, but it also reduces time-to-lease and increases close rates for property managers.
Now that Tour24 is a critical part of Draper & Kramer’s operations, Losik says the firm is now turning its attention to incorporating additional digital technologies into its leasing funnel. “In our leasing centers, we now have touch screens that allow prospects to select a unit to tour, see pricing, check availability, take a tour, and even apply right there — even if the agent is unavailable,” Losik says. “Our websites are now chatbots that can answer basic questions, freeing up time for agents to devote to strong prospects.”
By integrating Tour24 into their tech stack at a critical point in their leasing journey, Draper & Kramer is ahead of the pack in embracing the digital, automated future.