WinnCompanies offers $1,000+ Scholarships to Residents
WinnCompanies, the firm providing the property management and maintenance services here at Tierra Vista, is celebrating four decades in business by offering an amazing scholarship opportunity to residents! “…In an effort to enhance the lives of all that we serve, high school seniors, high school graduates and GED graduates living in communities managed by WinnCompanies or its affiliates are invited by the Board of Directors of WinnCompanies to apply for scholarship grants for the 2013–2014 academic year, to be awarded in May 2013,” wrote Gilbert Winn, Managing Principal of WinnCompanies.
WinnCompanies’ WinningEdge Scholarship Program invites distinguished residents who are pursuing some form of higher education, in community college, college, university or trade/professional school to apply for scholarship grants starting at $1,000! To find out if you or a member of your family are eligible for a Winning Edge Scholarship, CLICK HERE and download the full application packet and details. All completed applications must be submitted to the Community Management Office no later than April 12, 2013 for consideration, so don’t delay!
Application Submission Location:
Community Management Office
31 Patton Quadrangle
San Pedro, CA 90731
P: (310) 241-6184
Office Hours:
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
Wednesday: 8:00 am - 6:00 pm
SolarCity, Lend Lease Announce
Next Phase in SolarStrong Project
for Sustainable Electricity Production
Military Communities in California, Colorado to Receive Cleaner Energy; SolarCity Launches Veterans Hiring Initiative
July 17, 2012 -- Lend Lease and SolarCity® have announced the next project within SolarStrong, SolarCity’s ambitious plan to provide solar electricity for up to 120,000 U.S. military homes. The two companies are collaborating to provide renewable solar energy to more than 850 military residences at Lend Lease-managed Air Force communities in California and Colorado Springs -- Tierra Vista at the Los Angeles Air Force Base, and Peterson AFB and Schriever AFB, both in Colorado Springs.
This project furthers Lend Lease’s commitment towards building and maintaining state-of-the-art sustainable communities for U.S. military families. With a focus on identifying innovative sustainable solutions, Lend Lease projects also include the two largest solar communities in the country at Soaring Heights Communities (Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ) and Island Palms Communities (Army Housing, Oahu, HI) , the largest solar thermal project in the nation at Camp Lejeune, NC as well as the only Zero Energy homes on a military installation at Fort Campbell, KY.
For the Tierra Vista project, SolarCity will engineer, install and maintain the solar systems at all three Air Force Base (AFB) locations. The program is expected to generate more than 6.4 million kilowatt hours per year of clean, renewable energy from more than 18,000 solar panels. These panels are expected to offset between 30-60 percent of the electricity typically used in each community. The systems will also help reduce strain on the electricity grid during hot summer months when energy demand is often at its highest, and when communities are at risk of blackouts.
“This latest project allows us to continue raising the bar when it comes to modern, sustainable solutions for our residents,” said Simon Muir, Vice President, Director of Solar Services, Lend Lease. “We are committed to finding ways to meet the energy challenges of our lifetime and helping the Defense Department, currently the largest energy consumer in the United States, meet its goal of having 25 percent of its overall energy consumption derived from clean, renewable sources by 2025. This is another big step toward that direction.”
“The United States military is aggressively pursuing reductions in its fossil fuel energy use—SolarStrong gives privatized military housing communities an affordable way to use solar electricity,” said SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive. “With its decades of experience developing sustainable communities around the world, Lend Lease continues to be a more than capable partner in this effort.”
“Project SolarStrong is good business that builds lasting benefits in local communities across the country,” said Jonathan Plowe, head of New Energy & Infrastructure Solutions at BofA Merrill Lynch, one of the financiers of these projects. “We’re proud to be helping SolarCity, Lend Lease and the United States military reduce reliance on fossil fuels, promote a healthier environment and create good jobs for Americans, including many for veterans and military families.”
Military families, whose homes are about to receive the new solar panels, are expressing enthusiasm for the project. “We are excited to see that Tierra Vista is looking to the future by stepping up with green initiatives,” said Raquel Taylor, a resident in Tierra Vista Los Angeles AFB’s Pacific Heights neighborhood. “I can’t wait to see how this solar project will benefit our community.”
Lend Lease and SolarCity have also carried out large-scale solar projects at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona, and Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In addition to Project SolarStrong, SolarCity this year has devoted resources to a veterans hiring initiative to support veterans looking to join the workforce. The company currently employs more than 75 veterans in various positions within the company, including IT, sales, managerial, administration, design and installation. SolarCity participates in and holds job fairs for veterans and has collaborated on hiring processes by partnering with several veteran programs across the country – Veteran Affairs national offices, Bank of America’s military recruiting efforts, JPMorgan Chase & Co’s ‘100,000 Jobs Mission,’ Swords to Plowshares, The California National Guard, The California Conservation Corps, and Veterans Green Jobs.
About Lend Lease
Lend Lease is a leading international property and infrastructure group. Listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and with circa 17,000 employees worldwide, the firm’s capabilities span the property and infrastructure spectrum. In the US, Lend Lease’s public partnership business is the nation’s leader in public/private community development. With a focus on creating sustainable value, Lend Lease creates communities that regenerate our environment, enrich people’s lives and foster economic growth. Lend Lease has worked extensively with the Department of Defense through the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI), a program that provides for the transfer of military housing assets to private sector companies. With over 40,000 residential units, 192 apartments and 8,500 hotel rooms in its portfolio, Lend Lease will finance, develop, build, renovate and operate these sites for at least 50 years.
www.LendLease.com
About SolarCity
SolarCity®—a national leader in clean energy services—provides homeowners, business and government organizations cleaner, more affordable alternatives to their utility bills. The company makes it simple for customers to lock in lower, long-term rates for clean energy by providing everything from permitting and installation to ongoing monitoring and maintenance. Additional information about the company is available on the Web at www.solarcity.com.
Survey Points to Dramatic Improvements in Service, Leasing
Residents at Tierra Vista Los Angeles AFB are feeling good about the quality of their home, community and services they receive. In fact, in virtually all areas measured through the annual CEL & Associates (CEL) service satisfaction survey conducted recently, families at Tierra Vista LA are feeling exceptionally good about the place they call home.
Each year, CEL, an independent research firm, surveys all residents in Tierra Vista LA’s communities, gauging how families feel about the services they receive from Tierra Vista, such as maintenance, leasing, landscaping, as well as the overall quality of their homes and communities.
While satisfaction levels across the property have improved, families at Fort MacArthur registered a high score, qualifying the property for an A-List Award, given to communities with service satisfaction levels in the “Outstanding” category, the highest of the satisfaction ranges.
“Our team should feel very good about what they accomplished this year, raising the bar when it comes to resident satisfaction,” said Kerri Kilgore, Tierra Vista’s director of property management. Kilgore oversees all property management and maintenance operations for the project. “Throughout the year, we challenged our on-site property manager, Molly Markel, and our maintenance director, Kevin Dickerson, and their teams with finding more ways to improve our residents’ experience, from improving our leasing services to landscaping to response and completion times on maintenance requests. In all of these areas, they responded in a big way.”
Tierra Vista LA scored in the “Very Good” range (above 80) in all three major categories: Service Satisfaction, Property Satisfaction, and Overall Satisfaction. In each of these categories, resident satisfaction levels jumped 7 percent or higher. “This is a real success story,” said Pete Sims, Tierra Vista’s project director. Sims oversees all three of Tierra Vista’s communities: Schriever and Peterson AFBs in Colorado Springs, as well as LA AFB.
“We always look for ways to improve the quality of life for our families, from incorporating the latest building techniques to energy efficiency programs to exciting community events for our families,” he said. “This year’s survey, however, points to a dramatic, positive increase in level of satisfaction they are experiencing. I am very proud of what our team has been able to do. I am also very happy for our families.”
Of note, the overall response rate (the percentage of residents responding to the survey) hit a project high point at 52.9, shattering last year’s rate by more than 50 percent.
“Our residents definitely wanted to let us know how they view what we are doing for them,” added Kilgore. “It is good to see that we are headed in the right direction.”
Deployment Support Program
Choosing to remain in Los Angeles while your spouse is deployed is the best choice you can make for you and your family. Tierra Vista and important support services provided by the 61st Air Base Group are never more than a phone call away!
We offer:
- Fenced in mow and trim from Embasy Landscape Management every other week
- Support from a Tierra Vista Maintenance Technician each quarter like hanging pictures, installing a ceiling fan, changing out a shower head or any other basic household maintenance item
- One free household cleaning service per deployment provided courtesy of Tierra Vista.
For more information on how to sign up for this great service, please call the 310-241-6184 or stop by the Community Management Office