Aside from the five existing Meridia communities in New Jersey, Capodagli Property Co.’s partnership with Uber will extend to its future properties. Meridia Transit Plaza in Dover, as shown in this rendering, is one of five additional properties that the firm has under development. — Courtesy: Capodagli Property Co.
By Joshua Burd
In partnering with Uber, Capodagli Property Co. aimed to provide another amenity and a new level of convenience for its existing tenants.
The decision is also helping to attract future residents — perhaps in a way that it didn’t expect.
“People are saying, ‘Meet me at my building — my Uber is provided through my lease,’ ” said Kori Buro, Capodagli’s director of community lifestyles and events. “So I think that’s bringing people to the property. Next thing you know, they’re looking into the apartments and the amenity rooms that they have, and that in turn brings business back to us.”
The Linden-based multifamily developer touted a first-of-its-kind amenity in New Jersey last year when it rolled out its partnership with Uber. New lease signers receive a credit toward Uber rides, while each of Capodagli’s five Meridia-branded properties in the state have designated pickup and drop-off zones.
But the firm has no plans of stopping there when it comes to tapping into the sharing economy. Ankit Duggal, its vice president of operations and finance, said the developer is exploring partnerships with other providers “that will allow us to gestate further ideas” such as bike-sharing, the sharing of unused equipment and convenient self-storage platforms for residents.
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Part of that process involves waiting for providers to enter the market, he said, but “any time we see anything innovative that we think will add value to our tenants, we’re going to bring it in.”
“You need an ecosystem for that to happen,” Duggal said, noting that the company’s footprint in the state is becoming large enough to support new concepts and new technology that could cut across all of its properties.
As it turns out, that footprint is set to double over the next year or so. Along with its existing portfolio of about 1,000 units, the firm has another 935 under construction or in development in the state.
“That’s our goal — to develop enough critical mass that we can provide more services for people,” said George Capodagli, the firm’s founder and CEO. “There’s a million other things that we want to get involved with — and people want to get involved.”
