The Harbor at The Barracks Case Study

The Harbor at The Barracks

The Harbor at The Barracks is an 82-unit luxury apartment community located less than three miles from Texas A&M University. By April 2024, the property was in crisis. With the bulk of the leasing season behind them, The Harbor sat at 52% pre-leased and had a 7% renewal rate—one of the lowest in the College Station market. Nearly all promotional dollars had already been spent by the previous management company, and the building’s reputation was severely damaged due to unaddressed maintenance issues.

Ownership urgently needed a partner capable of rescuing the remaining leasing season. With just one month left before students left town for summer break, The Arena Group took over management and executed a rapid turnaround strategy focused on affordability, repairing The Harbor’s digital reputation, and aggressively targeting transfers and late-admission freshmen–the demographic least influenced by The Harbor’s negative history.

As a result, we achieved a 97.3% pre-leased rate by move-in, rebuilt the community’s online presence, restored resident confidence, and delivered the turnaround within the remaining budget.

Challenges

Severely Low Renewal Base: Almost all residents planned to leave, eliminating the typical stability and revenue predictability that renewals provide.
Damaged Digital Reputation: Across Google, Yelp, and Apartments.com, The Harbor had poor reviews, a low star rating, and public complaints about management and maintenance.
Chronic Maintenance Failures: Key systems—most notably the fire alarm—had been neglected for months. Incorrect sensor readings in the building’s elevators caused the fire alarms to activate almost nightly, creating severe frustration and constant sleep disruptions for residents.
Highly Constrained Budget: Before The Arena Group’s arrival, 90% of the marketing and promotional budget had been spent—yet only half the building was leased.
Timing: The Arena Group stepped in mid-April when most students had already signed elsewhere. Peak leasing season was over, and classes were just weeks away from ending for the summer.

Our Approach

Marketing

Positioning & Messaging

We reframed The Harbor around two core truths:

Everything residents disliked was gone.
The building itself had strong selling points.

Messaging emphasized:

New management
Reliable on-site maintenance team
Brand-new construction (less than two years old)
Fully furnished floor plans
Strong amenities package
Convenient location on the Texas A&M bus route

We also heavily targeted freshmen and transfer students–the groups least influenced by The Harbor’s negative history.

Marketing Channels

With almost no budget left, we leaned into high-impact, low-cost strategies:

Hyper-targeted Google Ads aimed at freshmen and transfers
Daily Instagram and TikTok content to generate organic website traffic
On-campus activations at New Student and Transfer Student Conferences
Perceived-value rental pricing incentives such as “$50 off per month” were built into our rate strategy without additional cost to our promotions budget

Branding & Visual Identity Updates

Fully redesigned the property website for clarity, ease of use, stronger calls to action, and a visual cue that management had changed
Refreshed visual direction and messaging across all channels

Leasing & Operations

Community Engagement

We reignited current resident engagement and word-of-mouth by:

Hosting a New Management BBQ and sending a community-wide New Management Survey
Launching a resident referral program offering cash incentives for residents who filled vacant rooms

Staff Alignment & Operational Reset

A strong on-site team was a major driver of the turnaround.

Replaced the previous property manager with a high-performer from one of our other properties whose leadership and communication skills immediately elevated daily operations
Retained the on-site staff who were strong culture fits and valuable sources of insight on the season’s shortcomings
Trained the team on improved tour scripts, follow-up processes, and resident communication
Improved maintenance response times, daily communication standards, and service request visibility

Rapid Maintenance Response

One of the biggest wins–and a key driver behind improved resident sentiment–was our immediate focus on solving neglected maintenance issues, especially the nightly fire alarm activations.

Identified the root cause: malfunctioning elevator sensors triggering system-wide alarms
Coordinated urgent repairs with the College Station Fire Marshal and third-party elevator specialists
Communicated progress proactively to residents
Successfully resolved the issue within weeks of taking over management

This fix helped rebuild trust quickly and contributed meaningfully to the increase in renewals from 7% to 14.5%.

The Results

Despite the timing, budget limitations, and reputational damage, The Arena Group delivered a near-complete turnaround.

Leasing Success

97.3% pre-leased by the start of the fall semester
Increased the renewal rate from 7% to 14.5%

Reputation & Digital Turnaround

Google rating improved from 3.0 to 4.5 stars
Dozens of new positive reviews collected from existing and prospective residents
Fully redesigned website that resulted in higher conversion rates and a dramatic increase in high-intent leads
Achieved a 95.8% Move-In satisfaction rate for our new residents that moved-in August 10

Operational & Financial Wins

Stayed within the remaining promotions and marketing budget
Strengthened relationships with existing residents, setting up healthier renewal cycles for future seasons
Restored credibility with ownership

Key Takeaways

1. Strategic messaging can overcome a bad reputation

By reframing The Harbor around its new management, affordability, and convenience, we neutralized negative market perceptions quickly.

2. On-site staff alignment is critical

Training, scripting, and staff buy-in directly improved tour quality—and tour quality directly increased our conversion rate for signed leases.

3. Community rebuilding leads to long-term stability

The survey, BBQ event, and communication overhaul restored trust with current residents, supporting better renewal performance in 2024 and in future cycles (i.e. 100% Pre-Leased by May 30, 2025 at 18% renewed).