On February 17, the Allura las Colinas team closed a $48.6 million refinance. The journey to this capital event required a major turnaround in physical occupancy. The key to success, according to senior manager Krystal Ware, is people.
“Every person on my sales team operated at an 8.0 or higher. None of them know how to give up,” said Krystal.
That was evident in the turnaround of Allura. In just 11 months, Allura went from 58 to 96-percent physical occupancy, exceeding their revenue target. The team improved NOI (net operating income) by $2.1 million since we first bought the property in 2016. Krystal praised her team’s dedication, highlighted their accolades, and backed it up with evidence.
“Just look at what the people on my team are doing now. Taylor (Gonzalez) earned a promotion at the National Awards, Amber (Parker) was promoted and made a market founder, Jazmine (Beninate) won the Super out of the Gate award,” Krystal said.
Of course, behind every successful team is a leader who leads from the front, and Krystal proved to be just that. After selling Highland Park in 2021, Krystal asked to tackle Allura.
“My first impression of Allura was that it’s a diamond in the rough. I had seen five different managers come and go, and I wanted to be the one to fix it because I knew what it could be,” said Krystal.
Krystal’s relentless pursuit of excellence at Allura started with reinforcing a sense of community pride at the property. Krystal quickly took ownership of the property grounds and operations, something that was not her specialty.
“I was a sales manager before a general manager. Operations was where I lacked. But this property challenged me to push myself to be better.” Krystal added, “I don’t believe a year ago, Bob (Lloyd) or Brad (Dykes) would have called me disciplined, but now I think it’s a key to my success.”
Allura is coming off a fantastic year after being named a Property of the Year nominee and Top Customer Service nominee. But at The Connor Group, while we recognize elite performance, we always keep our eyes fixed on the future.
“I love my team. We started as underdogs, but now the pride and commitment in every associate is easy to see. We are all willing to put in the work and we are just going to continue,” said Krystal.
Congratulations, team Allura!
- Krystal Ware – senior manager
- Amber Parker – sales
- Taylor Gonzalez – sales
- Jazmine Beninate – sales
- Keven Johnson – lead tech
- Manny Melchor – upgrade tech
- Adam Weatherford – grounds