To better understand the look of multifamily leasing in 2030, it’s useful to look back five years ago.
“With some exceptions, we weren’t using words like AI (artificial intelligence) back in 2020 like we are now,” reminds Mike Gomes, chief experience officer for Atlanta-based owner and operator Cortland (No. 9 on the National Multifamily Housing Council’s (NMHC’s) top 50 owners). “The expectations consumers have today have changed so much.”
It’s easy to see why those expectations have evolved so rapidly. Digital experiences from the worlds of banking, travel, and retail, to name a few, continue to ratchet consumer demand for speed and convenience. Why shouldn’t multifamily leasing be just as savvy and engaging?
“The multifamily industry is on the brink of drastic technological change,” concludes Shawaun Alexander, Bozzuto’s senior vice president of operations software and systems. Bozzuto is NMHC’s No. 2-ranked manager by ORA score in 2025.
“The challenge now lies in balancing this rapid tech evolution and making sure they align with broader business strategies, including leasing,” adds the 16-year Bozzuto veteran.
That’s not always an easy discipline to master, given the allure of gee-whiz, AI-based technology. Does today’s bright new tech innovation square with the firm’s long-term interest? For Gomes and Alexander, the north star is and always will be the renter experience. Does it meet the “commitment to innovation, agility, and personalization … of modern renters while maintaining white-glove, high-touch service?” asks Alexander.
Centralization Model
Gomes and his team at Cortland believe it can and have bet on centralization to wed the personal with the virtual.
“We have four teams based in Atlanta that serve the resident end-to-end experience. For example, we handle all lead nurturing in-house from initial inquiry until a tour is booked. We do have an AI virtual agent for off-hours inquiries. Live agents handle everything else. We’re very mindful this is the prospect’s first impression of Cortland. We go out of our way to make it a positive first engagement,” explains Gomes.
Cortland has more recently deployed teams for the applicant journey, former residents and one dedicated to resident services, a backup for its on-site teams. “The aim isn’t to eliminate staff. It’s to reduce boring, manual repetitive tasks,” he affirms. “Tech doesn’t empathize. Tech doesn’t communicate caring. True, some renters prefer a total online experience. But many want to hear, ‘Yes, we’re on it’ from a real person.”
Bozzuto views leasing engagement in much the same way, a hybrid strategy that balances the real with the digital. “As data collection grows more sophisticated, it empowers us to anticipate resident needs and personalization across every touchpoint,” reports Alexander. “AI adoption, now embedded in most tools and workflows, accelerates this capability.
“The opportunity to pair personalization with efficiency is transformative,” she says.
For Gomes, the opportunity to help lead this transformation into 2030 is gratifying. As a veteran of Disney’s theme park hospitality system and leader of the fan experience for Arthur Blank’s sports properties, including the NFL Atlanta Falcons and MLS Atlanta United FC, Gomes likes to say, “I’ve been in the customer service business for almost 30 years, but I’ve never had customers. I had guests, fans, and now residents.”
Borrow Smartly
The broad, multi-industry perspective is helpful in identifying engagement strategies developed by other industries. How a process or technology borrowed from another business plays out in multifamily is best left to a test, namely a pilot program.
Alexander and the Bozzuto team use several key performance indicators in their pilots, such as measuring for:
- Reductions in response times to prospect inquiries;
- Improved conversion rates; and
- Increases in leasing team efficiency and more high-value, trust-building activity,
There’s a lot for operators to investigate within leasing. “By 2030, we anticipate leasing technology will be fully embedded across the prospect and resident journey,” predicts Alexander. “However, leading operators will differentiate themselves by balancing automation with a meaningful human connection. Far from diminishing the personal touch, automation enhances it. It frees front-line staff to deliver the kind of elevated, white-glove experience residents value most.”
Bounty of Data Riches
If data is the new oil, high-performing operators will use their data refineries to get smarter faster. By 2030 and beyond, data-powered analytics will do even more to inform speedier, more confident decision-making. This growing bounty of data riches challenges operators to do more with their largesse.
“Will it allow us to make predictive actions around maintenance or changing market conditions?” asks Gomes. “Will it allow us to automate new areas of the operation? We’re still scratching the surface as an industry. We’re already seeing benefits that we think will provide sustainable success going forward.”
For Bozzuto and Cortland, true leasing success defies easy quantification because it’s the sum of a great resident experience, a journey without end. Where will leasing be in five years? That’s difficult to say. What can be said? The tools and vision are in place to exceed residents’ highest expectations.