EastPointe Realty, the full-service real estate brokerage firm specializing in property management and wholly-owned subsidiary of Community Builders of Kansas City, has experienced growth and expansion in the 18 months since its founding. The firm, which serves both the commercial and multi-family markets, has added St. Louis to its geographic footprint and grown to 990 units and 31 employees.
“It’s been an exciting time, with taking over management of 433 units in St. Louis and adding 567 units here in Kansas City,” said Irving Blue, EastPointe Realty managing member, “but the most exciting news is the significant renovations taking place at The Cleveland and Twin Elms to improve and extend the life of the assets.”
EastPointe’s first properties under management, in Feb. 2021, comprised 700 units. Just one year later the firm has nearly 1,000 units. Blue wants to extend the growth by expanding into bordering states that have realtor reciprocity agreements and intends to have 5,000 units under management in five years.
“Another reason for our growth is being part of the significant new construction happening at The Rochester, CBKC’s 81,400-square-foot, $12.6 million project on its campus at 4001 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.,” explained Blue. Pre-leasing its 64 units will begin in May.”
Blue said he finds the work of taking assets that were underperforming and changing their trajectory to be higher performing assets both rewarding and fulfilling. “We continue to do assessments of the properties and make adjustments to improve and extend the life of the assets,” he said. “It means a lot to me to be able to play a part in ensuring underserved communities have affordable, quality housing.”
EastPointe Realty was able to grow despite the pandemic, but it wasn’t without challenges. Not only were there the familiar supply chain pain points, but with more residents working from home, repairs and customer service needs increased.
“Ultimately, it was a good thing – it forced us to become more technologically astute,” said Blue. “Before we were using paper processing and now we’re virtual. All our communities are moving toward a virtual platform. By 2023 all rent will be paid and work orders submitted electronically and we’re building a database to better manage resident engagement. Our recent survey revealed that our residents struggle to be electronic so we know we’ll need to address the digital divide as we move forward.”
By 2024, Blue plans for the company to be completely paperless, with the exception of the sales team. “We would never be totally virtual for sales,” he said. “We wouldn’t want to lose that customer relationship, ever. Our motto is ‘We Care’ and we fully intend to carry that through.”