Pros
Some of the most talented and well-intentioned people I’ve worked with. I made genuine friends here and learned a lot from colleagues who truly care about doing good work. A lot of incredible creativity, unique ideas, and game-changing initiatives came out of the individuals I worked with.
When things were good, you felt proud of the projects and places you worked on. You were able to take ownership in projects that you were able to see come to life in real places, and see positive community response to them
Strong cross-functional exposure. I learned far beyond my job description and grew in ways that made me a more well-rounded professional.
Pay and benefits felt fair for the size of the company.
Kontras
Work has become increasingly micromanaged by senior leadership. Projects that used to be led by subject matter experts shifted into multi-layer approval cycles, including nitpicking micro details that cost time, inflate budgets, and frustrate tenants, vendors and external partners.
Strategic priorities can feel reactive. At times, partner-driven “hot” initiatives and tenants are prioritized over long-term asset needs, which leads to sudden escalations, compressed timelines, and avoidable stress for on-site teams.
Promotions and growth can feel political and inconsistent. Favorites will move up quickly while others were repeatedly given shifting goalposts, with feedback that depended heavily on who advocated for you.
Field teams carry a heavy load with limited flexibility. On-site roles often involve long days, weekend coverage, constant community-facing pressure, and being the default problem-solvers, without the hybrid schedule or boundaries that corporate teams may have. It can feel like two different workplaces.
HR support felt minimal in practice. Over several years, I had little to no meaningful interaction with an HR business partner beyond onboarding, which made development and goal-setting feel overly dependent on direct management relationships.
Culture can skew “inner circle.” Leadership maintains private group chats that, in my experience, crossed professional lines at times, including gossip about employees’ personal lives and sharing personal information. There can also be a strong undercurrent of image and status, which is exhausting and unnecessary.