Community of the year: distinction in the details: Lincoln at La Villitas' Mediterranean design and home-like feel set it apart from the competition.

With faux wood flooring and maple spice cabinetry in the kitchens, custom-framed mirrors in the bathrooms and attached garages, it's the small details at Lincoln at La Villita that create an atmosphere that makes each apartment more than a basic unit. To the community's residents, their apartments are unique and distinctive homes.

Lincoln at La Villita's architectural detailing and interior designs earned it the 2006 NAA PARAGON for Community of the Year.

"For Lincoln at La Villita to win a national award from a highly regarded association such as NAA is an honor," said Holin Barber, Southwest Regional Marketing Director, Lincoln Property Co., which owns and manages the community.

Ulandi Hoenig, the Business Manager at the residential apartment community, who manages all onsite operations, said, "The high level of finish out at Lincoln at La Villita entices people to move here and sets us apart from the competition, allowing us to win national recognition."

Urban Villas With Spanish Flair

Lincoln at La Villita is located within the master-planned community of La Villita. La Villita, in Las Colinas, Texas, located between Dallas and Fort Worth, is close to the Dallas-Fort Worth airport and is 15 minutes from Metroplex business centers and regional airports and less than two miles from numerous offices and business parks.

The master-planned, mixed-use development of La Villita offers man-made lakes, canals, parks, plazas, bridges and walkways. Designed by Cousins Properties, this new development, which is still under construction, has elements of traditional neighborhood planning with inviting avenues with wide, tree-lined sidewalks and beautiful open spaces.

"In concert with La Villita's master plan, Lincoln at La Villita is designed toward a Spanish-Mediterranean theme." Barber said. "It is designed to have the appearance of urban villas attached to each other along the street."

With stone, stucco, barrel-tile roofs, ceramic tile details and varied column treatments, each villa has unique exterior detailing and coloring, Barber said. "When building Lincoln at La Villita. Lincoln Property paid specific attention to every detail, from site planning of the interior parks to placement of unit types and attached garages within each building," she said. The work paid off with national recognitions and excellent leasing rates.

The apartment community is 95 percent occupied and 97 percent leased as of mid-July. First occupancy occurred in February 2005 and construction was fully completed in November of last year.

"This PARAGON award further affirms that we reached our main objective of creating a high-quality home environment. We maximized all possible features and attributes of the site and maintained a rapid lease-up, while collecting above-average rents," Barber said.

Lincoln Property Co. is building another apartment community within La Villita directly across the street from Lincoln at La Villita. The new Lincoln community, to be named Lakeside at La Villita, will have 331 units. The first building is scheduled for completion by the end of this year.

When completed, the master-planned community of La Villita will include residential units--apartments, townhomes and single-family houses--retail venues, two schools and a variety of businesses.

Townhomes Fill a Niche

The PARAGON-winning apartment community offers 26 units per acre with 409 townhouse and apartment rental homes. The units are distributed among 23 buildings with grass and trees between structures and park courtyards in the center of each block, Hoenig said. One building type offers four townhomes, but on average, 21 to 36 units comprise a building.

Residents can choose units of varying sizes: one-bedroom/one bath; two-bed-room/two-bath; townhome two-bedroom/two-and-a-half-bath with two-car attached garage; and three bedrooms/two baths.

"The townhouse product allows us to offer diversity in the product type, enabling us to appeal to a wider range of potential clients," Barber said. "There is not a lot of rental townhouse product in the submarket, so Lincoln at La Villita's townhouses help to fill that niche."

Direct-access garage parking is provided for 65 percent of the units. Only one other community in the area, built in 1996, offers a high percentage of attached garage product. All garages at La Villita face the interior of the community and are recessed into the building facade.

"The attached garages are really what help to set us apart from most of the competition," Barber said. "We collect anywhere from $150 to $200 more in rent for units offering garages. Our townhomes were some of the first units to lease when we initially opened the office and have remained popular today. The attached garages are the most popular features--they pretty much sell themselves."

Home-Like Amenities

In addition to direct-access and breeze-way garages, the community offers a clubhouse with a flat screen TV and billiards table; multi-media conference room; fitness center with modern sound system; jogging trail; outdoor swimming pool and running area; door-to-door trash pickup; outside lounge area with bar tables; three large, landscaped courtyards; a fountain with reflecting pool; professionally landscaped grounds; lakeside and canalside promenade walkways; and 24-hour emergency maintenance.

"In addition, we see numerous residents strolling and running along the promenades and sidewalks and enjoying the natural open spaces offered at Lincoln at La Villita," Barber said. "Many of our residents choose to live at La Villita because of the easy access to the Champion Trails."

To promote the active, outdoor lifestyle that attracts those residents, Lincoln at La Villita participates in the Make-A-Wish-Foundation Annual 5K Race and other local events, according to Barber.

In-unit amenities at Lincoln at La Villita include: 9-foot ceilings with crown molding; ceiling fans; garden bath tubs; ceramic tile in bathrooms; French doors; large patios or balconies; exterior storage; spacious closets; 2-inch blinds; and faux wood floors. Fireplaces are available in select units, and townhome units have granite counters. Ground-floor units facing a street or canal have individual entryways.

Coupled with the direct-access garages, those detailed finishes, reminiscent of single-family housing, create an atmosphere that feels more like a "home" for residents, Barber said.

"We have received many positive comments on the faux wood flooring in the kitchens with the maple spice cabinetry, black appliances and custom framed mirrors in the bathrooms," Barber said. "Overall, the small details create an upgraded and 'home-like' feeling that is difficult to find in typical apartment living."

A Neighborhood Atmosphere

Serving Lincoln at La Villita residents, in addition to Hoenig, are an assistant manager, two leasing professionals, a lead service technician and an assistant service technician and two groundskeepers. All but two of those staff members live at the community.

Also residing in the community are two residents who serve as event coordinators in exchange for free rent.

"The event coordinators were interviewed by the staff and regional managers in an effort to find a complement to the residents and their needs," Barber said. "They promote a neighborhood atmosphere by offering social events and fostering community relations."

The community hosts two events per week for residents. Events may consist of movies, cookouts at the pool, treats by the mailboxes, giving out Popsicles, dog walking and more. Hoenig said that a calendar is distributed to residents at the beginning of each month noting the events.

The event coordinators keep the office open one evening per week to allow residents to pick up packages.

"We have received positive feedback from many residents and it is obvious from the sheer number of residents who attend the functions that this is a program that is well-received by the community," Barber said.

Barber said that Lincoln at La Villita is not only a great place to live, but also "has set the standard in La Villita by providing top-quality product that further increases sales and rental rates for other builders in La Villita."

RELATED ARTICLE: What is a paragon?

Providing homes to more than one-third of the nation, the apartment industry continues to strive toward reproving the way takes care of its residents. Through developing best practices in management, customer service, marketing, technology and all other facets of apartment life, National Apartment Association (NAA) members continue to set the standard in the multifamily housing industry.

Each year NAA recognizes these accomplishments through its national awards program--the PARAGON Awards--presented to individuals, communities and affiliates.

As a strong national federation, NAA's annual awards program is an important service. By sharing the following profiles of the winning individuals, companies and affiliated associations (see pages 32-42), all members of the industry are able to see these models of excellence and share in these best practices.

Rachel F. Goldberg is a freelance writer who lives in Alexandria, Va.

BY RACHEL F. GOLBERG