Meet Kevin Grani, President of Sterling Asset Management Company
(Fairfield, CA) - We’re excited to introduce Kevin Grani, CPM. As Sterling Asset Management Company’s new President, Kevin is charged with growing CHOC’s property management footprint in California and beyond, across the multifamily affordable housing and market rate spaces, respectively. With over 30 years of experience managing large, West coast portfolios, Kevin is an excellent fit for the CHOC organization.
Sterling Asset Management Company: What We Do
Continue reading to get to know Kevin, as he shares his experience, thought leadership, focus on growth and connection to CHOC’s mission.
Kevin, it’s our pleasure to welcome you to the team at CHOC. Could you share a little bit about yourself and your background in real estate?
I started over 30 years ago as a leasing consultant in San Francisco. Over time, I advanced my career to an executive level positions running 17,000 unit West Coast portfolios. I’ve worked for owner/managers, owners, fee management and large institutional and REIT portfolios.
You join us from your former position as EVP at Winn Residential. How do your years of experience at Winn and beyond inform your approach as Sterling Asset Management’s new President?
My role at Winn was similar to what I’m now doing at Sterling. I managed all aspects of the portfolio, with all departments reporting to me. I was also responsible for the business unit P&L. As Sterling’s President, I drive all negotiations and manage the services that we provide to our clients, respectively.
Drawing from your past roles, how would you describe your strategic vision for nonprofit organizations, and the ways you plan to implement your approach?
Affordable housing has often had a black and white approach to managing a portfolio, with rigid rent and income level limitations. During my career, I've applied lessons learned in managing conventional housing to managing affordable housing. They include, but are not limited to, reduced turn times, effective wait list management, procurement, utility expense reduction and centralized staffing at properties, where and when possible.
How do you see Sterling Asset Management’s team expanding - through recruiting new employees, nurturing growth with our current staff? Both?
Our Sterling team will expand via growth of the existing portfolio. This includes new development that our parent company CHOC is building, as well as new clients. We have offices in Northern and Southern California with senior leaders in both locations, which perfectly positions us to handle new opportunities.
In your opinion, what are the unique challenges multifamily affordable housing faces in California, and how do you think CHOC is positioned to take them on?
The biggest challenge that the affordable housing Industry faces is the combination of inflation and insurance costs. Affordable housing has rent limitations that have historically increased at a much lower rate than conventional housing. This makes it more difficult to pass through charges to the residents. Of course, inflation is off the charts nationwide. With regard to insurance, we’ve never seen anything like what we're seeing in 2023. Rate increases and policy cancellations are at an all-time high in our industry. For example, multifamily affordable housing is often at a disadvantage because many carriers won’t insure properties that have predominantly Section 8 residents.
Are there similarities between managing conventional housing versus multifamily affordable housing?
They both are similar in that they provide homes to individuals and or their families. Conventional housing focuses on occupancy, maximizing rents and generating traffic. There's also a strong focus on sales and retention. Residents, of course, have the capacity to rent anywhere they choose and there’s a lot of competition amongst developments vying for individual prospects.
Multifamily affordable housing is different. Of course, there's a nationwide shortage. Many properties have long wait lists (therefore plenty of traffic), higher occupancies, and rent / income limits are set by agencies and/or states. This type of housing is more challenging to manage in that it’s highly regulated by county, city, state, and or government agencies, requiring a compliance team to ensure that all residents meets all income requirements on an annual basis. Multifamily affordable properties are also typically smaller in size, which may cost more per unit than larger, conventional apartments to operate. Usually, management teams specialize in one type or the other, it’s challenging to manage and operate both.
However, at Sterling, we assign regional management teams based on their specialization. A regional manager with multifamily affordable experience will focus on those types of portfolios, while regional managers with conventional housing experience will handle portfolios in line with their expertise.
How does CHOC’s mission resonate with your own professional values?
Improving quality of life for lower income households absolutely resonates with me. Everyone has the right to affordable housing. I've managed properties where apartment rent could exceed $10K a month. The person or family paying $600 a month deserves to be treated just as fairly.
When you’re not working, how do you enjoy spending your free time?
You’ll either find me at my older daughter’s swim meet and or travelling with my younger daughter to one of her many beach volleyball tournaments. My wife and I often need to take a divide and conquer approach as many of these events happen simultaneously!
Our thanks to Kevin for his responses. We look forward to the beginning of an exciting new era for Sterling Asset Management Company.
Meet Kevin’s team and follow Sterling Asset Management on LinkedIn.
Kevin featured in SF Business Times, Los Angeles Business Journal and Sacramento Business Journal’s People on the Move.
Founded in 1984, Community Housing Opportunities Corporation (CHOC) is a non-profit affordable housing developer, energy, services and property management provider headquartered in Fairfield, CA; we create and manage equitable communities for individuals, families, seniors, and those with special needs. CHOC believes that economically integrated affordable housing is key to self-sufficiency and achievable with enriching, supportive programs that instill pride in residents, stabilize families, and improve local economies. Visit CHOCHousing.org.