Page 5 - Florida Sentinel 12-11-20

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Black Female-Owned Company Completes Relocation Process At Tampa Park
BY MONIQUE STAMPS Sentinel Staff Writer
After the completion of the relocation of Tampa Park Apartments residents on No- vember 2nd, Latoria “Tori” Boyd of Signature Properties Services is looking forward. Boyd’s successful relocation effort eased the difficult process of moving roughly 320 families.
Boyd moved to Tampa after graduating from Morris Brown College in Atlanta 23 years ago. She decided to move her young family to Tampa and raised a daughter and son, ages 22 and 21.
A native of Ft. Lauderdale, she started in housing as a temporary leasing agent in college. She worked hard, rising up the ranks to prop-
erty manager, then district property manager. Her last job before going full-time to her own company was re- gional property manager with a portfolio of 12 proper- ties in FL and TN.
Looking for something to further challenge her, she de- cided to step out on faith and work for herself. She started Signature Properties Man- agement in 2013, but eight- een months ago, she gave up her full-time job and devoted herself full-time to her dream.
A few short months later, in March 2020, she received notification that her com- pany was awarded the relo- cation contract for Tampa Park. After the field was nar- rowed to two parties, she was selected. Boyd feels it was
LATORIA ‘TORI’ BOYD
her familiarity with the prop- erty that sealed the deal. She had previously worked with
the Tampa Park Apartment staff.
Ms. Boyd thought the re- location went very well. Her team consisted of a realtor, a mortgage broker and lender, and credit repair analyst and all were successful in their area of expertise. According to Boyd, she has done relo- cations in the past, but not this size or budget.
Boyd said the job of help- ing the residents find compa- rable affordable housing during a pandemic was not easy. Because of the afford- ability of Tampa Park, it was difficult to find the same level of pricing.
During the pandemic, Boyd says that Section 8 housing vouchers were not as widely accepted, so that posed a challenge. The key
was to find housing that was sustainable so residents would not find themselves over their head in a few months.
“The ownership and on- site management of Tampa Park was great and handled any resident issues.” Boyd stated that she would be glad to work with them again on another project.
As the year ends, Boyd is excited about the future. She states, “We are planning an- other relocation in 2021. Right now, we are working on the foundation of that process by working with the ownership and construction companies on the prelimi- nary logistics.” Additionally, her company is working on HUD compliance assistance and consulting.
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