BJB Properties - Final Project ReportAdriana Garst

Introduction to BJB Properties

BJB Properties is an apartment leasing company that opened in Chicago in 1969. BJB is family-owned and has been in the same family for four generations now. The Barry family and the Purcell family are BJB’s owners, and Don Barry Sr. is its current CEO. The company began from buildings that were bought by the Barry family long before Chicago property prices rose to the levels they are now.

“Vintage, Modern, Remarkable,” is the company’s slogan. BJB is, “committed to the rehabbing of the city's finest vintage buildings into elite downtown apartments that offer wonderful modern amenities, while still retaining their classic charm,” (bjbproperties.com). The majority of BJB’s buildings were built after the turn of the century, around the year 1920. The buildings are restored, but still show a lot of their original vintage façade especially on the outside. The insides of the buildings have been renovated. Apartments feature hardwood floors, appliances including a dishwasher, refrigerator, microwave, and stove, and newer bathroom fixtures. BJB offers studio and one, two, and three bedroom apartment options in the city of Chicago and surrounding suburbs.

BJB has buildings on the north side of the city of Chicago, as well as a few in surrounding North Shore suburbs. In the city of Chicago, there are over 40 buildings located in the Gold Coast, Lakeview, Lincoln Park, and Roger’s Park neighborhoods. Just north and northwest of the city, BJB owns over 20 properties in the suburbs of Evanston, Winnetka, and Park Ridge. All of the company’s leases have a 12-month duration, which can only be broken with a sublease. Subleases can occur at any time during the lease. Residents are responsible for finding a person to take over their lease, although sometimes leasing agents will assist tenants in finding a sublease.

The properties that BJB owns are broken up into different pods according to locations. These pods have their own management and leasing offices. Management offices take care of residents that currently live in BJB’s buildings. The tasks that the management office handles include maintenance requests, noise complains, directing tenants who are moving in and out, renovations, cleaning crews for the common areas, packages, and pest control. Management offices each have their own property manager, assistant property manager, and maintenance crew. The leasing office is completely in charge of showing and leasing apartments. Leasing office tasks include scheduling and holding showings, posting ads on Craig’s list and similar sites, answering phone calls and emails from prospective tenants, putting together paperwork and leases for prospective tenants, and directing prospective tenants to other BJB locations depending on availability of apartments, location, and budget. Leasing offices have their own leasing agents and most have a leasing office assistant. The pods and their descriptions are listed below.

Sheridan: Manages and leases buildings on the border of Lincoln Park and Lakeview. Wrightwood: Buildings on the south side of Lincoln Park. Gold Coast: Buildings located in the Gold Coast neighborhood. Roger’s Park: Buildings located in the Roger’s Park neighborhood. 600 Diversey: Buildings scattered around the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Deming: Buildings located in the Lincoln Park area. Evanston South: Buildings located in south Evanston.

Evanston North: Buildings located in north Evanston and Winnetka. Park Ridge: Buildings located in Park Ridge and Winnetka. Sheffield: Buildings located in Lakeview.

The following are single locations with their own management and leasing offices in the same building.

Lincoln Park Plaza: Building at 600 W. Diversey Pkwy. Millennium Park Plaza: Building at 155 N. Michigan Ave. 424 Diversey: Building located at 424 W. Diversey Pkwy, only studios are offered at this

property.

I worked for BJB Properties from June 2014-August 2014. I worked in the leasing office as the leasing office assistant at the 2850 N. Sheridan Road office. My job included answering phone calls and emails, sending apartment inquiries to leasing agents in an equal manner, assisting agents in putting prospective tenant files together, filing paperwork, and posting Craig’s list ads. Since the summer is the busiest time for moving in the city I helped the assistant property manager at the front desk of the management office a lot during these times and would do things like answer the management phone line, take maintenance and other requests, answer tenant questions, and direct people for move-in and move-out. My job turned out to be a lot more expansive than I was originally told, but it was more exciting that way because there was always something to do. The Sheridan office leases and manages six apartment buildings, I have listed their locations and capacities below.

2850 North Sheridan Road: 208 units 420 West Surf Street: 142 units 426 West Surf Street: 154 units 2828 North Pine Grove Avenue: 124 units 517 West Oakdale Avenue: 110 units 734 through 742 West Oakdale Avenue which is a smaller building with multiple

addresses: 9 units

The first five buildings are within a three-block radius and the last is about six blocks away from the management and leasing office.

Currently, the Sheridan office’s biggest project is to renovate all units to keep up with other BJB buildings and competitor buildings in the city and surrounding area. A few unit renovations have been made, but the majority of Sheridan’s apartments have not yet been updated.

Problem Description

From working so close to the management side of the Sheridan office, I got to hear tenant issues first hand. BJB has been around for a long time, but its reputation is faltering due to customer dissatisfaction. While working, I noticed the biggest issues tended to occur with renovations. The Sheridan office was just beginning renovation efforts and had not established a formal system for these renovations. The Sheridan pod plans to renovate all units in its six buildings. More often than not, parts for renovation would arrive late or the crew would take longer than expected to finish the renovations. This would lead to late move-ins, unhappy tenants, and loss of rent money to BJB since rents would need to be prorated. In many cases,

tenants would not have any notification that their units were not finished, and would try to start moving in only to find they were missing countertops, flooring, or appliances.

Tenants who were promised an incorrect move-in date often held grudges after the experience. In order to move, tenants would usually hire moving companies or rent moving vans. With thousands of people moving into and out of the city at the end of each summer month, it is very hard to make appointments to use moving companies and trucks. If a tenant reserves a company or truck to move, often they cannot find another available appointment if they need to cancel their previous one because of an incorrect move-in date and will lose money for cancelling. If an apartment is not ready for move-in, these tenants may not have anywhere to stay, especially when they are moving to Chicago from somewhere far away. These issues are very large and have caused numerous problems in tenant satisfaction, tarnishing BJB’s image. Unfortunately, the company has many negative online reviews caused by these issues.

Unit renovation began while I was working in August 2014. It was a scrambled process, the project manager was sometimes not even able to tell tenants a specific date that the unit renovation would be completed. This creates a huge issue because future tenants are depending on BJB for a place to live, and trusting BJB with their money so that their apartment would be ready to their expectations. The process worked by renovating a vacant unit after a previous tenant had moved out in time for the new tenants. This process requires a unit to be vacated, correct parts to be ordered to install the renovations, the time for the renovation work to be completed, and then time for the apartment to be cleaned and painted.

A large part of the problem lays within lack of management organization. The manager should know exactly when materials are arriving and how long the work will take. Correct dates, measurements, and numerical information is needed so that calculations can be made as to the timeline of the work. This data is not currently organized in a formal way and it is causing problems for the Sheridan management office because management cannot give tenants a specific date that their apartment is available for move-in.

Another huge issue within the Sheridan pod was that leasing agent communication to future tenants was incorrect a lot of the time. Leasing agents would promise renovated units would be finished to people under impossible time constraints. This happens because leasing agents try to rent out units so they can collect the commission. Leasing agents receive $150 of commission for each apartment they rent. When tenants could not move in when promised, they got angry with the management office. This is frustrating because the management office does not have much connection to the leasing agents’ promises. Most of the time, the leasing agent could not even remember the specific details he or she told a future tenant about renovation and move-in dates. A lack of communication between the two offices caused larger problems and made tenants unhappy.

There are a few different parts to the renovation process, as mentioned earlier. The renovation process replaces the unit’s hardwood floors to a more modern and higher-quality finish, the white appliances are replaced with stainless steel appliances, tile countertops are replaced with granite, bathroom and kitchen faucets are updated, and kitchen cabinets are stained and given new hardware.

The main focus of the project is to get the entire renovation process installed on time so that tenants do not move into unfinished apartments. Not many people move in the winter

months, so renovations will begin at the end of April 2015 when many leases expire and the number of tenants moving out largely increases. I would like to improve this process to ensure all units get renovated, that they are renovated on time for move-in, and to completion at the time of move-in.

Goals

For the Sheridan BJB office, the main goal focuses on time and scope of the projects. The materials will be high quality because BJB has chosen to order high-quality materials, and cost is not an issue since renovations will cost less than the rent BJB will gain from these units. The Sheridan management office needs to focus on getting units renovated, and prepared completely by the promised move-in date for each tenant.

The biggest way to solve this problem is to establish a formal system for keeping track of renovation dates during the process. The best method to do so is to create a work breakdown structure for the renovation projects, then to use the WBS to create a network diagram. By doing so BJB will see each deliverable’s duration, find out what the predecessors are for each deliverable in the project, identify the critical path, calculate the early and late start and finish times of each deliverable, and find if any steps in the project offer slack. Therefore, the Sheridan manager can calculate the entire project’s exact duration.

Once the duration of each project is known, the exact date the unit will be move-in ready will also be clear. Tenants can be promised their units will be finished by a certain date. This will avoid angering tenants who try to move when promised, only to find an unfinished unit. Tenants will be pleased with a smooth move-in process on BJB’s side, since overall moving is stressful. Tenants will have a more positive opinion of BJB Properties. The builds a good relationship, and may lead them to choose to live in BJB Properties over other Chicago properties in the future. If tenants are happier, they are more likely to spread good word-of-mouth about BJB Properties and influence friends and family to choose BJB over other property management companies.

The best way to keep track of such a system is by an electronic database. This way, anyone in the management or leasing offices can log on and receive the same information. When information is updated, updates will automatically appear online. Everyone will have access to this information so that the correct information will always be shared with future tenants to the Sheridan pod.

When it comes to renting out apartments, updated and renovated units rent faster. The Chicago real estate market is very competitive, and people find modern finishes ideal in an apartment, and would choose an updated unit over one that has older, out-of-date finishes. When units rent faster and more often, BJB will have less vacant units. Also, rent can be increased for units that are newly renovated because people would be willing to pay the higher prices for renovations. These factors are positives for BJB because the company will make more money in the long run.

Along with the network diagram, a few improvements can be made in the office to ensure the renovation process runs smoothly. First, the Sheridan manager should make all renovation dates and information easily readable and organized. This way, less mistakes will be made. Also, communication needs to be improved throughout the Sheridan office. Employees on the management side and the leasing side should be informed about correct dates at all times. This will avoid leasing agents making promises without backing, and telling future tenants

their units will be renovated and ready at a date that is too early. Leasing agents that continue to promise incorrect move-in dates should be punished with a loss of commission. The loss of commission will deter them from repeating the mistake in the future as well as ingrain the importance of being honest with clients. Leasing agents also need to communicate any promises made to future tenants with the management office for approval.

Finding slack in the network diagram benefits the Sheridan office’s business in other ways as well. The diagram works to show which steps in the process can afford extra time. This can help BJB to save money by avoiding paying workers overtime. It can also help by focusing the work onto more important steps that affect renovation and move-in dates.

Along with these suggestions, it would be beneficial for the Sheridan management office to talk with other BJB management offices who have already renovated their units. These other offices may be able to offer advice on the renovation process. This can include things like choosing suppliers that deliver faster than others or methods for installing renovations that save time.

Best case scenario, things would always run smoothly with an improved, formal system to keep track of renovations and move-in dates. However, things may happen that may cause an apartment to be unfinished on move-in day. It may be late delivery of materials, loss of employees, unforeseen maintenance issues, etc. In this case, it is important to give tenants notification that their apartments will not be ready. This way, they will not rent moving trucks that will go unused, avoid fees from moving companies for cancelling, and find other living arrangements while the unit is being finished. BJB may also want to consider covering hotel expenses or cancellation fees for tenants whose apartments are unfinished. Although this would cost the company money, it would greatly improve BJB’s reputation among clients, and lead to lease extensions and positive word-of-mouth.

Current Progress

In order to create a network diagram, I needed crucial information from the BJB Properties Sheridan office. My main contact at the office has been Laura Burns, the assistant property manager for the Sheridan pod. I later spoke with Dino Vukic, the Sheridan office property manager to gather the missing information.

Laura and I have been communicated through email so that I could gather the majority of information for this project. Through my communication with Laura I have found a lot of the information I needed to create a network diagram. Laura gave me information about the renovation process from the BJB Properties’ side. The only information I had missing from my draft was the order and delivery times of materials, the cost of labor for each step, and the cost of materials for each step, but I was promised that I would get the information over the phone in late November.

I called the office and spoke to Laura, as well as Dino on the afternoon of Monday, November 24. Laura gave me wage information for the maintenance and renovation staff. Dino was able to share the time it takes for the materials to arrive at the Sheridan BJB office after they are ordered. Dino was unable to give me specific company information for the materials ordered. He told me that flooring is ordered from one company and takes two weeks to arrive. The granite countertops are ordered from a different company and also take two weeks to arrive. The appliances (dishwasher, stove, refrigerator, and microwave), bathroom faucet,

kitchen faucet, and cabinet hardware are all ordered from the same company and arrive at the Sheridan office after six days. Therefore, ordered renovation materials come from three different companies. Cabinet stain and paint are ordered year round are always on hand and Dino could not give me information on delivery times for these items since he is not the one to directly manage them.

Below is the compiled information on the time each deliverable takes to complete as well as the predecessor of each deliverable.

Time it takes to receive materials:o Flooring: 2 weekso Granite Countertops: 2 weekso Appliances, faucets, cabinet hardware: 6 dayso Cabinet Stain & Paint: always on hand, no delivery time

Removal of old kitchen appliances: 4 hours Removal of old hardwood floors (studio, 1, 2, and 3 bedroom listed respectively): studio

– 1 day (8 hours), one bedroom – 1.5 days (12 hours), two bedroom – 1.75 days (14 hours), three bedroom – 2 days (16 hours)

o Predecessor: kitchen appliances removed Installation of new hardwood floors (studio, 1, 2, and 3 bedroom listed respectively):

studio - 1.5 days (12 hours), one bedroom - 2.25 days (18 hours), two bedroom - 2.5 days (20 hours), three bedroom - 2.75 days (22 hours)

o Predecessor: old hardwood floors removed Removal of countertops: 2 hours Removal of old cabinet hardware: ½ hour Cabinet staining: 4 hours

o Predecessor: countertops removed, old cabinet hardware removed Installation of new cabinet hardware: 1 hour

o Predecessor: cabinet staining Installation of granite countertops: 2 hours

o Predecessor: cabinet staining Installation of refrigerator: 1 hour

o Predecessor: cabinet staining Installation of stove: 1 hour

o Predecessor: cabinet staining Installation of microwave: 1 hour

o Predecessor: cabinet staining Installation of dishwasher: 1 hour

o Predecessor: cabinet staining Removal of old bathroom faucet: 1 hour Installation of new bathroom faucet: 1 hour

o Predecessor: removal of old bathroom faucet Removal of old kitchen faucet: 1 hour

o Predecessor: installation of granite countertops Installation of new kitchen faucet: 1 hour

o Predecessor: removal of old kitchen faucet Painting: 1 hour

o Predecessor: installation of granite countertops Cleaning: 1 hour

o Predecessor: painting

Overall, the renovation process takes between five and eight days depending on the apartment’s size. This duration comes from original calculations before the network diagram was complete, and does not take slack of deliverables into account. Also, the process can move faster if two eight hour maintenance shifts are worked in one day. The Sheridan office knows a tenant will be moving out one to two months before the tenant moves. This gives the office plenty of time to order materials and wait for them to arrive. For this reason, I chose not to include the order and delivery times in the final network diagram since it does not affect the rest of the process unless materials arrive late.

The cost analysis for each step of the process is another way that the Sheridan office can ensure it is reaching its goals. Wages for maintenance who are working on the renovations is $12 an hour. Some steps require only one person, while others require two. I have taken this into account when doing to cost analysis for each step. Also, flooring cost depends on the size of the apartment. A BJB studio apartment has an average of 400 square feet, 1-bedroom has an average of 520 square feet, 2-bedroom has an average of 650 square feet, and 3-bedroom has an average of 800 square feet. The wages and cost of materials for each step can be seen below. Unfortunately, Dino was unable to give specific budget information because it cannot be shared outside of BJB.

Deliverable # of Employees Wages ($) Materials ($) Total Cost ($)Material Delivery 0 n/a n/a n/aKitchen Appliance Removal

2 (12x2)(4) n/a $96

Hardwood Floor Removal (studio, 1, 2, & 3 bedroom respectively)

2 (12x2)(8)(12x2)(12)(12x2)(14)(12x2)(16)

n/a S - $1921 - $2882 – $3363 - $384

Hardwood Floor Installation (studio, 1, 2, 3 bedroom respectively)

2 (12x2)(12)(12x2)(18)(12x2)(20)(12x2)(22)

$3/sq foot3 x 400 = 12003 x 520 = 15603 x 650 = 19503 x 800 = 2400

S – $14881 – $19922 – $24303 - $2928

Countertop Removal 2 (12x2)(2) n/a $48Old Cabinet Hardware Removal

1 12 x .5 n/a $6

Cabinet Staining 1 12 x 4 $15 $63New Cabinet Hardware Installation

1 12 x 1 Knobs - $20Pulls - $35

$67

Granite Countertop Installation

2 (12x2)(2) $350 $398

Refrigerator Installation

2 (12x2)(1) $800 $824

Stove Installation 2 (12x2)(1) $600 $624

Microwave Installation

1 12 x 1 $150 $162

Dishwasher Installation

1 12 x 1 $400 $412

Old Bathroom Faucet Removal

1 12 x 1 n/a $12

New Bathroom Faucet Installation

1 12 x 1 $30 $42

Old Kitchen Faucet Removal

1 12 x 1 n/a $12

New Kitchen Faucet Installation

1 12 x 1 $50 $62

Painting 1 12 x 1 $20 $32Cleaning 1 12 x 1 n/a $12

From all the information above, I can now create a network diagram. Although there are four different types of apartments (studio, one bedroom, two bedroom, and three bedroom), I will only create a network diagram for a one bedroom apartment. The vast majority of apartments in the Sheridan pod are one bedroom. The renovation time between apartment types does not vary too much since the only difference in the renovation process between the four types of apartments is the time it will take to remove the old hardwood floors and add new hardwood flooring. Below I have listed the renovation times for each apartment in hours and days from the information I have gathered. Notice that there are number of days when there is only one shift and number of days when there are two shifts. The BJB Sheridan office can choose whether to have maintenance working on renovations for only one shift or to bring in an extra shift to get the job done faster. A shift is eight hours. Increasing shifts will most likely be a necessity during the months when many units need to be renovated. Also, the two shifts will be worked by different employees to avoid paying overtime, although overtime is an option. I have also added the total cost for the renovations and the average cost of rent of each apartment below. Rent can fluctuate depending on the floor the unit is on as well as other factors, so I chose to use average rent.

Studioo 43.5 hourso One Shift per day: 5.44 dayso Two Shifts per day: 2.72 dayso Total renovation cost: $4552o Rent per month (average): $925o Rent per year: $11,100

One Bedroom:o 53.5 hourso One Shift per day: 6.69 dayso Two Shifts per day: 3.34 dayso Total renovation cost: $5152o Rent per month: $1375o Rent per year: $16,500

Two Bedroom:

o 57.5 hourso One Shift per day: 7.19 dayso Two Shifts per day: 3.59 dayso Total renovation cost: $5638o Rent per month: $1750o Rent per year: $21,000

Three Bedroom:o 61.5 hourso One Shift per day: 7.69 dayso Two shifts per day: 3.84 dayso Total renovation cost: $6184o Rent per month: $2100o Rent per year: $25,200

Details

When I reached out to the Sheridan BJB Properties office, they were pleased to hear from me. They were surprised that I was taking on such a large project, but were eager to help as much as they could, and very interested to see the outcome. Running six apartment buildings and keeping thousands of tenants happy is a large job, but both the property manager and assistant property manager said they would assist me as much as their schedules allowed. Although some information could not be shared because of privacy concerns, I got most of the information I needed to make my calculations.

The plan’s main objective is to find the total duration of the Sheridan BJB office’s apartment renovations. Once the duration is known, BJB will be able to correctly predict move-in dates for future tenants. The first step I have taken in this process is to create a work breakdown structure with a list of all deliverables, each deliverable’s duration, predecessors for each deliverable, and any other notes about each deliverable of the process. It should be mentioned that the installation of the refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, and stove are included in one step to create a network diagram that is simpler and easier to read.

Since all materials will be ordered in advance before the previous tenants move out, the order and delivery time will not be counted in the network diagram. The process that will be included in the network diagram starts when the old tenant moves out. The WBS can be seen below.

Description Duration Predecessor NotesA Tenant moves out 0 days Milestone – work can

beginB Remove old kitchen

appliances.5 days A

C Remove old hardwood floors (studio, 1, 2, and 3 bedroom)

1 day, 1.5 days, 1.75 days, 2 days

B

D Install new hardwood floors (studio, 1, 2, and 3

1.5 days, 2.25 days, 2.5 days,

C

bedroom) 2.75 daysE Remove old countertops .25 days AF Remove old cabinet

hardware.0625 days A

G Stain cabinets .5 days E, FH Install granite countertops

new cabinet hardware.25 days G

I Install new cabinet hardware .0625 days HJ Install refrigerator, stove,

dishwasher, microwave.125 days D, G

K Remove old kitchen faucet .125 days IL Install new kitchen faucet .125 days KM Remove old bathroom

faucet.125 days A

N Install new bathroom faucet .125 days MO Paint .125 days JP Clean .125 days TQ Unit is move-in ready 0 days milestone

Laura gave me the duration times for each deliverable in hours. The calculations I made for the work breakdown structure are based on an eight hour work day. For example, if flooring takes 8 hours to remove, it takes one work day. Doing the calculations in this manner avoids overtime. However, to quicken the process BJB could choose to have maintenance work overtime or have two shifts in each day. Once the specific amount of units that need renovations is known, overtime, the size of the crew, and the amount of shifts in a work day can be calculated. Now that the table is complete, a network diagram can be constructed. The network diagram will tell us start and finish times for the entire renovation process as well as for each deliverable in the process.

The complete network diagram for the BJB Sheridan pod’s renovation process for a one bedroom apartment can be seen below. I chose to only focus on a one bedroom in my example because the majority of apartments in the Sheridan pod are one bedroom. The network diagrams for each type of apartment are extremely similar, so only one example of the network diagram is necessary to explain. The only differences in renovation times between the four types of apartments is the removal and installation of the hardwood floors. The network diagram is measured in days by an 8 hour work day.

The paths of the process for a one bedroom apartment are drawn below. The critical path is 4.625 days, much less than originally shown in my previous calculations. This is because a few of the deliverables can be worked on simultaneously with other deliverables. The difference between the two calculations shows the importance of constructing a network diagram. The calculations for each path’s duration can be found below with the critical path, or path with the longest duration, circled.

Below are the early start, early finish, late start, and late finish times of each deliverable in the process. The deliverables with slack as zero mean that those deliverables must be started

right away. The deliverables that offer slack can be postponed in order to complete other deliverables that may be more important.

From these calculations, it is clear that the renovation process of a one bedroom will take 4.625 days or if there are two shifts, so double the employees, the process of one apartment renovation for a one bedroom would take 2.31 days. This amount of time can be decreased by hiring extra renovation staff, paying renovation staff overtime, or having double shifts in one day. It may be necessary to quicken the process in the months that there are lots of move-ins.

The renovation duration of each of the other apartments can be correctly calculated from the same method as the one bedroom. These renovation durations are listed below. The renovation durations are listed as days in the form of an 8 hour work day. The durations are also the critical path length of each apartment type.

Studio: 3.375 days Two bedroom: 5.125 days Three bedroom: 5.625 days

Currently the BJB Sheridan pod has 12 renovation staff members on hand that can be used during the busy move-in and move-out months. This staff can always be expanded or workers can be paid overtime to expedite the renovation process. The number of units that the staff can complete in one month of each type of unit is listed below. The amount of apartments that are renovated depends on the amount of weekdays in a month, here we are assuming the month has 22 weekdays for the calculations below.

Studio: 6.51 apartmentso With two shifts (extra employees): 13.04 apartments

One bedroom: 4.76 apartmentso With two shifts (extra employees): 9.51 apartments

Two bedroom: 4.29 apartmentso With two shifts (extra employees): 8.59 apartments

Three bedroom: 3.91 apartmentso With two shifts (extra employees): 7.82 apartments

Currently these calculations are based on apartment renovations done by four renovation employees working at one time. During the time of slack, two of the employees can begin work on other apartments. In reality, a greater number of apartments can be renovated at once than are listed above. The renovation amounts above are the minimum that can be done based on the network diagram. When all 12 employees are utilized, approximately three times more apartments can be renovated.

Another part of this calculation depends on the amount of move-ins and move-outs per month in the six buildings at the Sheridan pod. All of BJB Properties’ leases last for a duration of 12 months, but tenants can choose to sign a new lease to extend their lease for another 12 months once their lease reaches its end. At BJB, a tenant must give notice to move out between one to two months before their move-out date, otherwise they must sign a new lease for their apartment to extend it for another year. If BJB is notified at two months, it gives the company a safety net because they have much more time to order and wait for renovation materials to be delivered. If BJB is notified at one month, order and delivery time is more stressed, but materials will still arrive on time if the process runs smoothly, since all materials should arrive 2 weeks after they are ordered. However, this has the potential to cause difficulties if materials are not received when they are needed.

Difficulties with suppliers is the main concern, since suppliers do not work for BJB Properties. Materials need to be ordered from outside suppliers, and BJB orders from a few different suppliers. This means there are three different ordering and delivery dates, so not all materials arrive at the same time. Along with this, material delivery time has a large impact on the projects. Many things could go wrong to affect material delivery time. Difficulties in this part of the process could include the supplier running out of needed materials, the wrong type or size of materials being sent, any material that is broken or faulty when it arrives, or a delivery time that takes longer than promised.

The last difficulty the process will inevitably face is the fact that not all tenants will move out in the next year, nor does BJB want all tenants to move out. The best approach to this

difficulty is to ask tenants if they would like their units to be renovated during months that are less busy and have much fewer move-outs, such as in the winter. Then BJB can focus on slowly renovating occupied units without forcing tenants out and without worry about completely renovating tons of vacant units as in the spring and summer months, April through September. These tenants can also choose if they want all, some, or just parts of the renovation because some parts of the process require more effort than others. For example, it is easy to remove and install a new refrigerator, but removing old flooring and installing new flooring requires furniture to be moved. From this, tenants will view BJB more positively because they have the power to choose what is done to their unit.

Plan for the Future

The network diagram is now complete and can be used to find the total duration of the renovation process for each apartment type. The diagram can correctly predict the renovation process for studio, one, two, and three bedroom apartments. The diagram also tells us how many apartments can be finished in any given month. From here, the BJB Sheridan office can use the diagram to decide if expanding renovation employees is worth the money. This will depend on the amount of apartments that need to be renovated, and the amount of money that the BJB Sheridan office has to spend on labor.

Budget info is something that is necessary to begin a cost analysis. Dino could not give me any budget information since that must remain privately within BJB Properties. Although it is clear that rent is much more expensive than the entire renovation process cost including renovation staff wages, the BJB Sheridan office has other costs to cover. These costs are accumulated in the management and leasing offices, some advertising costs (although the majority are covered by the BJB corporate office), cost to upkeep hallways and public spaces of the buildings, cost of upkeep to the outside of the buildings, cost for exterminations, and any unforeseen emergency expenses. While I do not have access to this information, the BJB Sheridan office can take the calculations that I made and use their budget information to create a cost analysis.

The finished network diagram lists the early start, early finish, late start, and late finish of all deliverables. These measurements show the earliest and latest that a deliverable in the process can be started to still finish the projects on time. The slack tells us exactly how much time the BJB Sheridan pod can postpone a deliverable to focus on other deliverables of the renovation projects, or to start the renovation process on other units.

Removing and installing new flooring is the part of the process that is the most time consuming. The floor installation is the bottleneck of the process, it is the portion of the process that slows things down the most. The BJB Sheridan pod has a few options to shorten the duration of this part of the process. The office can hire more renovation employees, meaning that more flooring can be replaced at one time in different apartments. There may even be a new way to lay or remove flooring that would save the Sheridan office time. A new removal or installation process can be found through research, as well as reaching out to other BJB management offices or flooring companies to see if any advice or different processes can be offered.

Currently it is not possible to find the number of apartments that will need to be renovated in the upcoming spring and summer months of 2015. This is because the tenants do not give notification to the office until one to two months before they move-out and chose not to renew their lease.

Once the BJB Sheridan management office has the list of move-outs for each month, it will be clear how many renovations need to be made. From this information, the management office can derive the number of renovations employees needed, and how much all the renovations projects will cost.After deciding these factors, a list can be compiled of the dates that each apartment will be available for move-in. This list will be shared with all BJB Sheridan employees, including leasing agents, so that they can promise future tenants correct move-in dates. Materials for the units will be ordered at a minimum of one month in advance once the BJB Sheridan office receives notification that the tenants will be moving out. The BJB Sheridan office will then have a month to complete the renovations in the necessary units after these previous tenants move out.

The BJB Sheridan office may also choose to increase rent for renovated units because of the new amenities. This will bring in more revenue and make paying extra wages more manageable for the company. This extra revenue may also make it possible to begin renovations on units that are currently occupied by tenants who still have time on their lease or who have chosen to renew their lease.

Appendix

Resources:

Laura Burns, Assistant Property ManagerEmail: Laura.Burns@BJBProperties.comOffice Phone: (773) 537-2000

Dino Vukic, Property ManagerEmail: DVukic@BJBProperties.com

Sheridan Management & Leasing Office2850 N Sheridan Rd.Chicago, IL 60657

"BJB Properties - Chicago Lakeview, Gold Coast and Lincoln Park Apartment Rentals and Commercial Properties." N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2014. <http://bjblincolnpark.com/index.php?p=home>

"BJB Evanston - Evanston, Park Ridge and Winnetka Apartment Rentals and Commercial Properties." N.p., n.d. Web. 10 28 Oct. 2014. <https://bjbevanston.com/index.php?p=home>

"BJB Properties." Facebook. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Nov. 2014. <https://www.facebook.com/BJBProperties>