5 Questions With Erin Knight of Monument Capital

Monument was founded by baseball great “A-Rod,” who amassed 696 home runs and three American League MVP awards during his career with the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers and New York Yankees. 

In his post-baseball career, Rodriguez is an entrepreneur whose projects include significant focus on commercial real estate. Over the past decade, the company has acquired more than $900 million in properties through opportunity funds and strategic joint ventures.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Commercial Observer: What’s Monument’s focus?

Erin Knight: Our focus is and has been in the multifamily workforce housing space. We traditionally focus on older, vintage programs where we can do value-add projects. These are properties that were built in the 1970s or 1980s, typically outside of Florida. We love Florida and we’d love to do more deals here, but with the return profile and the cost it’s difficult to make it work. The smaller markets have been more approachable, and with less competition, typically.

Why the focus on workforce housing?
That decision was made way before I was here, but it dates back to when Alex began buying multifamily for himself when he was in his 20s. He came up with that thesis of buying properties that could be repositioned to a higher standard. It’s an area where we have expertise as a company. We can come in and manage those light construction projects.

We’re not doing full rebuilds. We’re overseeing remodeling of interior units. We may be building a new clubhouse, or a fitness center or a pool.

What’s your biggest challenge?
The labor market is a big challenge. Our positions on-site that are within the communities are harder to fill. During the pandemic, that went to a different level. We’ve started using AI to help manage some of our communities.

How are you using AI?
One example is that we have a platform that works by text message to remind tenants about rent payments. Over time, the system learns your patterns. If rent is due on the first and you typically pay on the third, you wouldn’t be reminded until the fourth. If staff had to do that, it would take hours and hours and hours. But leveraging a platform like that can be almost instantaneous. 

We find that residents are willing to respond about what’s going on. The technology can take the conversation so far, and then it escalates to a human. I wouldn’t say I’m a believer that AI is going to replace people. I see this as a complement to help our on-site teams.

What’s A-Rod like to work with?
He’s great to work with. He is very supportive. He’s passionate about his businesses. His mindset from playing baseball is very team-oriented. From being in the clubhouse all those years, every voice is important to him. He seeks out opinions from everyone from the top all the way down, which I think is unique. You don’t find a leader who actively solicits opinions from everyone in the organization.

Jeff Ostrowski can be reached at jostrowski@commercialobserver.com.