Westland Launches Security Robot

Westland Real Estate Group Deploys Knightscope Security Robot

Las Vegas apartments enhance security with first fully autonomous security robot at multi-family residence

[LAS VEGAS, NV] Westland Real Estate Group has launched a fully autonomous security robot at Liberty Village Apartments in Las Vegas, NV. The security robot is the first in the world to be used in a multi-family residence in an effort to improve the safety and security of residents.

Safer and Stable Homes through technology

The safety and security of residents is the highest priority at Westland. Westland Real Estate Group is taking steps to improve the safety of residents in their communities with the implementation of a 24-hour security robot.

In a statement provided from the Executive Director of the Nevada State Apartments Association, Susy Vazquez quoted, “WOW! Westland, again, is stepping outside the box and addressing issues with innovation! I'm fascinated by the capabilities of this bot and it's effectiveness”.

Enhanced Security options to support community needs

The chairwoman of the Clark County Commission, Marilyn Kirkpatrick commented, “So excited to be able to have a new robot as part of our security team. We look forward to all the additional resources it will bring. Please be on the lookout”.

High tech developed for high performance

The security robot was designed and built by Knightscope, Inc. Knightscope is an advanced security technology company based in Silicon Valley that builds fully autonomous security robots that deter, detect and report. The security robot has many features to enhance security such as a duress button, which can be programmed to call security on-duty. Upon pressing this duress button, there will be a two-way intercom discussion with security personnel on duty.

The security robots are equipped with various levels of object avoidance, AI Deep Learning and smart navigation, all of which are used by the Robots to dynamically understand their environment. The security robot visually observes its surroundings through the use of video cameras and a thermal camera.

About Westland Real Estate Group

Westland is the owner and operator of Multi-Family Residential, Retail Properties, and Manufactured Home Communities across Southern California, Nevada, and Texas. Our corporate philosophy is to continually grow and expand the Westland family while providing a high-quality service and make a positive impact on each community we serve.

For more information contact

Dena Lerner, Marketing Manager | 562.310.0560 | dena.l@westlandreg.com

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Get to Know Paula Willmore, The Musical Mobile Home Manager

Paula Willmore made a splash aboard the Queen Mary by singing with the mariachi band at our last Gala. Whether she's performing, raising a family, or managing Westland's Pomona Mobile Home Park, Paula does everything with passion.

This year marks Paula's 28th year at Westland. She says her job interview is a day she'll never forget — mainly because she wasn't expecting a job interview. After purchasing a home in the park, Paula came to the office to sign the lease. That's when Westland founder Allen Alevy spotted her potential. Thanks to her bubbly personality, he knew she'd make a great salesperson and manager for the property. "He wanted me to manage his park in Pomona. I said, 'No. I'm not looking for a job.'"

Within a month of moving into the community, Ruth Garcia arrived with an employee contract. "I remember Ruth came to my house with a hiring contract. I thought, I never said I'm going to take the job."

Although she needed convincing at first, Paula is proud to be a part of the Westland family and loved working with our founder. "Mr. Alevy is not just my boss. He wants to know that everything is good with my family and me. I've had nothing but good experiences at Westland."

A major challenge with the newly-owned mobile home park was combating crime. "When I first moved to the community, we had lots of problems with drug dealers, gangs, and vandalism. So I asked the Pomona police department to help me. The chief officer said: "Are you crazy? Do you know who you are dealing with? Get your kids and leave.'

"I was a single mom with three kids, and I'd just bought a home. I had to keep fighting. I said, 'If you guys want to help me, we can do it together, but I'm not moving out.'

"The police sent a couple of patrol cars. Right away, windows got broken and the tires were slashed. It took us a while to clean the park up, but I never gave up. I reported everything to the police, and Westland was able to evict the people that made the park unsafe. Because of that, you can walk the streets in the middle of the night with no problem."

Thanks to her hard work, Paula's five children loved growing up at Pomona Mobile Home Park. When she talked about potentially buying a new house, her children said, "That's nice, but we want to stay here. This is our home. We're happy where we are right now."

As well as cleaning up the park, Paula focused on building a community to be proud of. Every Thanksgiving, the local police and city mayor deliver 100 turkeys for 100 of the park's families. At Christmas, the City Council donates gifts to the park's children. She loves helping with the giveaways. "The community supports me, and I like to support them back. We surprise them with toys and food. It brings people together."

Outside of her manager role, Paula loves to sing. "My passion is my music!" She sang professionally in the '70s but stopped after her husband’s death so she could raise her children. In 2011, Paula returned to her music and loved performing with the mariachi band at the Westland Gala. "I'd do it more if they let me," she said. "I'm recording a CD and hope to have it ready by May."

Westland Team Comes Together for Gala 2019

On November 9th, team members from Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Fort Worth came together for the joyous Westland Gala. With our company reaching 500 employees this year, it was our largest Gala to date and required a spectacular venue. The event committee didn’t have to search too far for the perfect location thanks to Long Beach’s The Queen Mary — the world famous 1936 Oceanliner turned hotel. Our team members and their guests filled the Grand Salon, a beautiful art deco ballroom, for a celebratory evening of awards, food, drinks, and dancing.

The Grand Salon, The Queen Mary.

As is tradition, the bi-annual event celebrated the company’s amazing achievements and the many personal milestones of our wonderful team members. Many of our coworkers reached their 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 30th, and 35th work anniversaries. In total 52 people received an award for their years of dedicated service.

10 Year Award winners with Westland President Yanki Greenspan (center).

Westland Founder Allen Alevy took to the stage to share his appreciation for everyone and introduced the 30+ years service awards. Three devoted team members reached this momentous milestone and received a $10,000 bonus for their decades of hard work. Hilda Aguirre and Feleeh Tuazon reached 30 years and Daniel Gonzolas commemorated his 35th year at Westland.

Westland Founder Allen Alevy, 30th Anniversary Award Winner Feleeh Tuazon, Westland President Yanki Greenspan.

The night was an opportunity for team members across all departments — residential, retail, and mobile home communities — to recognize their colleagues with the Allen and Deanna Alevy Award of Excellence. In the month leading up to the Gala, team members were invited to nominate coworkers who demonstrated excellence in their work. We received nearly 100 submissions for 43 nominees, each filled with inspiring and touching testimonials, but there could only be three winners.

As the announcement approached the anticipation was palpable with nominees perched on the edge of their seats. Our Excellence Award winners were Project Administrative Assistant Elisa Avila, Area Manager Wendy Gutierrez, and Maintenance Supervisor Armando Rincon.

Excellence Award Winners: Elisa Avila, Wendy Gutierrez, and Armando Rincon.

Her colleagues selected Elisa because she shows up every day with a smile and takes tremendous pride in her work. She always knows the status of her projects, no matter how big her workload is.

Wendy is a truly inspirational figure at Westland. Initially starting as a Maintenance Clerk, Wendy worked her way up and is now the South Long Beach Area Manager. Her voters commended her for being reliable, trustworthy, and respectful. Wendy's residents regularly sing her praises because they know much she cares.

Speaking after the ceremony, Wendy said, "I had no idea I was nominated until someone at the table showed me the program. It was a total surprise. The award made me feel really special and appreciated. I feel like people see the work that I do."

Armando Rincon received many heartfelt nominations. He started at Westland 5 years ago as a porter. He immediately focused on learning and growing. No task was too small, and every challenge was accepted. He is now an AC certified Maintenance Supervisor. While giving out the award, Westland President Yanki Greenspan told Armando, "You are a shining example of what it means to be on the Westland team."

With magicians, photo booths, caricature artists, desserts, and an open bar — there was no shortage of entertainment options. The night was topped off with dancing as leasing agents, maintenance techs, department heads, contact center representatives, and community managers celebrated together.

Check out the full photo album on our Facebook page HERE.

Get to Know Brielle Cook, the New Contact Center Supervisor

Westland has a long history of recognizing talent and promoting from within. Following that tradition is our newest department head, Brielle Cook, who worked her way up from a Call Center Agent to the Contact Center Supervisor.

Brielle began at the company in 2014. Back then, the Contact Center was a small team of four people taking calls from prospective residents. Five years later, the department has grown into a team of 12 people that receives calls and processes online requests. The team handles a whopping 500 calls a day from both prospects and residents. In many cases, the Contact Center informs people’s first impression of Westland, so it’s a big responsibility.

Brielle previously worked as the Contact Center Lead, which meant she trained new team members. She says, “It taught me a lot about leadership and taking action.” In her new role, Brielle analyses data, sets department goals, and collects statistics to monitor success. “My vision is broader now.”

Brielle’s favorite thing about working at Westland is that it’s a family-orientated company that’s flexible with her parenting schedule. She also appreciates that the company is full of dynamic individuals that she can learn from. “You can pick their minds and everyone is willing to teach.”

The Contact Center has become a tight-knit group thanks to regular parties allowing the team to bond. “Everyone’s birthday is a potluck,” Brielle said. “On most days, someone randomly brings in food. It brings people together and we can enjoy the camaraderie. Asking about how they made it breaks the ice and encourages communicating.”

The new role includes a private office for Brielle, but that hasn’t stopped her from staying engaged with her team. “I like to leave my office door open so that I can hear the voices and the hustle and bustle out there.”

In the future, Brielle hopes to focus on providing more services for current residents. “We want to make sure we retain those people by giving them a voice and making them feel heard and happy.”

Westland Retail Ramps Up

Westland’s Retail Department has had a busy 6 months with 35 new leases, including many new retailers we are excited to work with. These new members of the Westland family include:

• Discount retail store Manny has moved into Seven Trees in San Bernardino which is our largest retail space at 105,000 sq ft. It’s the first California location for the Texas retailer. 

• Paramount Shopping Center is now home to the local coffee chain Tierra Mia, which is opening a new drive-thru at the location.

• Westland has also signed our third lease with 7/11. The new location will be constructed at Broadway & Slauson in Los Angeles, which is currently a parking lot.

• AutoZone, an auto parts retailer, is now open in La Habra with a second lease signed at Seven Trees in San Bernardino.

• Kumon, an education company that teaches an after school mathematics and reading program is now open in Santa Ana.

The Retail Department has many other exciting leases in the pipeline, especially for our Uptown Project in North Long Beach. Stay tuned!

Lights, Camera, Action!

This month, Westland filmed a new corporate video with a focus on our Maintenance Department. The four-minute film is a celebration of our maintenance team members, highlighting the important work they do. As the backbone of our business, the maintenance team keep our communities operating and ensure our residents are happy.

The project was shot over four days. Production began with filming at our corporate headquarters and our Inglewood and Long Beach communities. The other three filming days took place in Las Vegas, visiting various Westland communities throughout the city.

Throughout the shoot, the filmmakers filmed and interviewed techs, supervisors, coordinators, managers, leasing agents, department heads, and residents who all shared what they love about the team.

Currently in post-production, the appreciation video will premiere at the Westland Gala in November.

We've Expanded Our Solar Carports

At Westland Real Estate Group, we’ve increased our commitment to renewable energy by installing new solar panel carports at our Long Beach headquarters.

The parking lot already featured 470 panels covering 52 parking spaces, which provides energy for the building as well as the electric vehicle charging station. The original installation created 170,000 kWh (kilowatt hour). The new system covers a further 18 parking spaces and provides 273 new panels. This will produce an additional 140,000 kWh per year. Combined, the systems will produce 310,000 kWh per year. That’s enough energy to power over 40 homes.

The extra shade will also create energy savings for team members as their cars remain cool during the day. On hot days, air conditioning can lower a car’s fuel efficiency by up to 25%. The installation will ensure team members can lower their commuting costs as well as their carbon footprint.

Over the next 25 years, the solar panel system will reduce CO2 pollution by 6,750 tons which is equal to 22,000,000 miles driven by gas vehicles. This is the same impact as planting 115 acres of forest trees.

Westland has also installed energy-saving solar solutions at many of our communities such as Osage Apartments and Desert Palms Mobile Home Park. We plan to continue increasing our renewable energy use at other communities.

Both cost-saving and environmentally friendly, Westland is committed to investing in the future of the company, as well as lowering our carbon footprint for the benefit of our global community.

Maintenance Goes Digital

Our Harmon Hills Maintenance Team.

The maintenance department works across all divisions of Westland. With over 10,000 residential units and 1 million square feet of retail space, and 14 manufactured home parks - they have a lot of work to do. In fact, the department receives an average of 250 maintenance requests a day.

As Westland continues to expand, it’s become increasingly important to streamline our maintenance work order process by going digital. That’s why our technicians have adopted Yardi’s Mobile Maintenance App, a cellphone app that allows each tech to access and update their work orders through their phones.

Before the change, the contact center was inputting maintenance requests through our Yardi software, which was then printed out by the property manager and given to the maintenance staff, once the tech completed the work order they filled it out and returned it to management, who then typed the work order back into Yardi. The system needed a 21st-century update.

Using Yardi’s Maintenance Mobile App is an easy way for technicians to view and respond to assigned work orders while on the go. Techs can now view their assigned work orders which give them all the information they need such as the unit number, the issue, as well as confirmation they have permission to enter. Once inside the unit, the techs can assess the problem, upload a before picture, log parts used, and upload an after picture.

With our team members set up for digital work orders, we have eliminated a huge amount of paperwork which saves trees, lowers costs, and improves productivity. It’s all part of providing excellent customer service to our residents and tenants who want their problem fixed fast.

Our Property Managers with their training manuals.

The four-day training involved showing all property managers how to assign work orders in the system. followed by training all maintenance technicians on how to download and operate the app.

Thanks to the introduction of the app, Westland has a modern workflow. This new system coincides with the Los Angeles area roll out of our Resident Portal, which allows residents to make maintenance requests online, and allows us to provide digital end-to-end customer service. This lightens the load of our contact center team members and ensures fast and effective customer service.