Peter Landers

Peter Landers

CEO, Landers Management

Years in current role: 30+

What do you enjoy most about your role?

As a local owner and developer of commercial properties and apartment communities, I enjoy working with my wife, Kathy Landers, and our property management team to provide tenants and residents with great living experiences. I take great pride in our property management team who do the work daily to provide great service to our residents. I enjoy providing leadership to our team to improve our how we operate and to give our employees opportunities for growth. As a small business owner I value the personal relationships we have with our employees, contractors, and lenders who have helped make us successful. As a developer I enjoy creating an innovative vision for a property that addresses a community need and working with the development team to bring that vision to reality.

What has been the biggest challenge you’ve dealt with over the past year?

The pandemic has clearly been the biggest challenge the last year. We have been able to keep our employees and residents safe thanks to our employees who sanitized our properties and followed CDS/NYS safety protocols on wearing masks and physical distancing. We have been fortunate that our Legends senior communities had very few COVID-19 cases. The pandemic presented us with the opportunity to learn how to work from home remotely using video conferencing and rethink how we could keep our property management team engaged to serve our customers. From a development perspective we had to pause and rethink our Aqueduct development plan, which was initially office space. We have pivoted to a novel work/live plan with a remote work hub to address the growing need to work remotely.

What do you see as the biggest changes in the real estate and construction industries in the next 3-5 years?

Digital technology will be both an enabler and a differentiator for real estate companies. Those that embrace technology to provide their tenants and residents with great living and working experiences will thrive. Cloud-based remote working, flexible hybrid work models, and integrated live/work environments will increase. Apartments are leased using virtual tours, virtual assistants, and chat boxes. AR/VR & predictive AI tools will become more widely used. Real estate companies will utilize prop tech to provide personalized marketing, amenities, and vertically integrated tech solutions to enhance the living experience. Building operators will focus on healthy work environments and reducing their carbon footprint. Modular construction and 3D printing will provide affordable housing.

What community organizations do you support as a volunteer and why?

I serve on the boards of the University of Rochester Medical Center, Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester Rotary Charitable Trust, and Rochester Downtown Development Corporation. I am a firm believer in giving back to the community. Causes I support include the Rotary Sunshine Camp, Foodlink, Greentopia, Center for Youth, House of Mercy, and Rotary International, which provide opportunities and assistance to people who need a helping hand. For a number of years, Landers Management employees have volunteered at the Foodlink Festival of Foods to support the great work that Foodlink does to address food insecurity in our community.

What are you most looking forward to doing as COVID restrictions ease?

I look forward to face-to-face meetings with employees and customers as I miss the personal connection. I am excited about attending professional and social events in person and seeing family and friends. I look forward to attending live concerts, art venues, sporting events, festivals, and traveling again.