It’s hard to believe we’re already halfway through the year! We’re evolving more and more every day, so we wanted to take a look back on how much we’ve grown since the start of the year. 2019 has been big for Evolve so far, and we love seeing the transformation of our construction projects and newest communities!

Evolve Timber Creek has made such huge strides since the beginning of the year, and now Phase II is in the works!

Within just a few months, Hawthorne at Friendly has already started shaping into a sleek and modern community that will be overflowing with luxury amenities!

Hawthorne at the Glen has gone from foundation to frame and so much more in just a few short months. Things have really started taking shape!

We know that the second half of 2019 will be even bigger than the first half, and we can’t wait to see how much we’ve evolved by the end of the year!

Want to see more videos of our progress this year? Check them out here, and don’t forget to like, comment and share!

The entire Evolve family had such an incredible time last month at our 4^th Annual Awards Ceremony at the Proximity Hotel! What better way to celebrate our amazing team and their success than with a night dedicated to awards and having fun? We are so proud of our team and what we’ve built together!

We wanted to highlight just a few of the many awards received at the ceremony!

Evolve professionally secret shops employees to ensure we’re staying true to our mission, building relationships built on trust, closing the deal, and are in compliance with Fair Housing Laws. This year, the Best Shop Award went to Nikki Simpson at Evolve at Stones Bay—she received a 99% on her shop!

The Leasing Award went to Tonya Mixon at 808 West Apartments! Tonya leased 45% of the total leases and achieved a closing ratio of 84%, which is 51% higher than the industry standard!

The Highest Resident Retention Award really highlights the quality of service the team provides and the sense of community they foster! This year, with a retention rate of 58%, the award went to Team 2918 North for going above and beyond to build strong relationships within the community!

Social media is such a great way for communities to post relevant, engaging and creative information on a platform that many residents and prospects will see! The Best Social Media Award went to the team at Evolve Timber Creek.

The Property of The Year Award went to 808 West, a community who maintained a consistent physical and economic occupancy level for the entire year at 99%. Leadership, teamwork and dedication were demonstrated at their highest capacity amongst this team!

We also want to give a huge shout out to our awesome vendor partners who not only helped make the night possible, but who contribute to the success of Evolve every day! Many thanks to Advantage Sports & Fitness, Bravo Signs, Butler Lighting, Costar/Apartments.com, Commercial Water & Energy, Cort, Green Visions Landscape, Honeycutt Construction, LuxerOne, Majestic Floor Covering & Hardware, RentVision, and Trussway Manufacturing for all that you do!

Thank you all for Evolving with us! We can’t wait to see how far we’ve come this time next year!

Want to see even more of what we’re up to at Evolve? Check us out on Instagram and Facebook to stay up-to-date!

Spring is officially here! The weather is getting warmer and the sun is shining a little bit more, but we’re still not totally out of the clear for rainy days. Now is the perfect time for Evolve communities to take full advantage of a rainy weekend. What do April showers bring? A little extra time to clean! Check out these 5 tips for spring cleaning your apartment.

1. Make time to make it happen!

Consider what you’re working with—what’s the size of your apartment, and how much storage space do you have and use? Be realistic when figuring out how much time you need to set aside. For a small studio apartment, you may only need a day, but a larger apartment might require a full weekend or more!

2. Have cleaning supplies ready

There are few things worse than being in the middle of a good flow with your spring cleaning and suddenly realizing you’re missing a pivotal cleaning supply! If you have a full weekend of cleaning planned, make sure you’re stocked up on everything you need by the end of the week.

3. Get rid of things you don’t want or need

One of the best things about apartment life is having just enough space for the things that bring you happiness. However, that doesn’t mean that accumulating unnecessary stuff isn’t possible. If you’re familiar with Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, you’ll know she suggests moving through everything you own one category at a time, putting it all together in a massive pile, and asking yourself if each individual item brings you joy. This is especially useful for clothes and kitchen items!

Don’t be afraid to be brutally honest when it comes to your belongings. If something doesn’t bring you joy (not including tax forms!), it might be time to donate it to someone who could get a lot of happiness out of it. The more decisive you are, the quicker this process will be!

4. Throw in a load of laundry

This doesn’t just include dirty clothes. If you have curtains or rugs that can be machine washed, go ahead and throw them in. This is a good time for towels and bedding to be washed as well.

5. Clean, clean, clean!

Now that you’ve fully de-cluttered each room, the trunk of your car is (hopefully) loaded with items to donate, and the laundry is in, it’s time to pull out the cleaning supplies! Be sure to hit all of the usual spots, and don’t forget to clean the windows, dust all of the light bulbs, and clean the inside of the refrigerator and other kitchen appliances.

Last but not least—clean your floors! Vacuum, or if you really want to take it to the next level you can always rent a steam cleaner from a local hardware store. If you have hardwood-like flooring, give your apartment the mopping it deserves!

Turn on your favorite music to help keep you motivated, and your weekend project might actually end up being pretty fun! Knocking it out all at once is the best way to ensure everything gets done and dusted. Though spring cleaning may take some time, just keep in mind how light and refreshed you’ll feel when you’re finished!

Don’t forget that the Evolve Awards Ceremony is coming up this month! We had so much fun last year, so mark your calendars for April 11^th! Want to stay up to date with all of Evolve’s latest news? Like our page on Facebook to stay in the loop.

2019 is officially here and it’s the perfect time for new beginnings! 2018 brought a lot of excitement with the delivery of Evolve at Tega Cay and Evolve at Timber Creek, and there’s so much more to look forward to in the year to come! To recap some of the incredible highlights from this past year, we reached out to Jackie Morelli, Director of Operations, for a quick Q + A!

Q. How long have you been with Evolve and what’s your role in the company?
A. I joined Evolve on November 11, 2014 to start up the management company. As the Director of Operations, I’m responsible for the operating strategy and portfolio of Evolve’s management division.

Q. What were the biggest things to happen for Evolve in 2018? What are some of your favorite highlights for the company over the past year?
A. There are so many accomplishments and highlights over the past year. Our high performance teams continue to astonish us through their teamwork, providing high levels of service and always striving to go over and beyond. I’m so proud of each team member, as they are a vital part of who we are. We can’t do what we do without them! Hands down, we have the best people—our team members, residents, owners, investors and vendor partners who make our organization so great!

We continue to focus on what’s most important which are our people, doing the right things and the bottom line inevitably takes care of itself. Every community within our portfolio has a success story and know this blog is limited on content! In April, we handed out many awards at our annual awards ceremony recognizing individuals and teams within Evolve Companies. For the very first year, we invited vendor partners to share in the celebration. Our vendor partners contribute to our success by delivering great products and services for our communities.

We implemented several operational strategies to improve efficiency in 2018 to include Yardi Payscan and online onboarding. We also partnered with Ellis on quarterly resident surveys, which provides invaluable feedback on our product and services. We went live with Liberty Rent Guarantee, which offers a prospective resident a potential solution to lease with us if they did not meet our credit guidelines. In September, several communities were affected by Hurricane Florence. We were overall very fortunate and sustained less damage than others. Many team members helped victims and communities affected either through volunteering, personal donations, monetary contributions, and staying on site for elderly residents in lieu of evacuating.

We worked and played hard at our annual budget bootcamp in October. We had a blast and have lots of memories especially trying to get out of the Break Out Room in teams. Another highlight in 2018 includes delivery of our 2 newest communities in 2018—Evolve at Tega Cay in Fort Mill, SC and Evolve at Timber Creek in Garner, NC.

Q. What’s your favorite thing about the newest community, Evolve at Timber Creek?
A. Even though the community is still under construction, the curb appeal around the completed areas of the property is absolutely beautiful even during this time of year.  The clubhouse is absolutely striking and you’re sure to be greeted by one of our Evolve team members for a memorable experience. The interior features and amenities certainly make us stand out in this market.

Q. What other projects—construction or otherwise—are in the works for Evolve this year?
A. Though we won’t be managing these, Evolve Construction is very busy working on approximately 10 projects within NC, SC, TN and Georgia. Additionally, Stephen Austin, a partner in the management division is looking to break ground in Weaverville, NC.

Q. Are there any transformations Evolve is going through as we shift into 2019?
A. This is a big year for stabilization of Evolve Timber Creek and Evolve at Tega Cay.

We have several goals for 2019 to include adding value and amenities, seeking further ways to improve efficiency and re-envisioning the Evolve brand.

We’re looking forward to another exceptional year in 2019—onwards and upwards!

A huge thank you to Jackie, our Director of Operations, for taking the time to answer these questions and give us a glance back at 2018. Here’s to another fantastic year to come!

Want to see for yourself how we’ve evolved for 2019? Check out our newest community, Evolve at Timber Creek.