Nominated for 2021 Washington Multi-Family Housing Association Emerald Awards
Joe Bonilla, third from right, and his team receive recognition for their WMFHA Emerald Award nominations in a ceremony put on by parent company, HNN Communities. Photo provided by Joe Bonilla.
In October, Discovery West, an apartment community located near Swedish Issaquah in Issaquah Highlands, was nominated for two 2021 Washington Multi-Family Housing Association (WMFHA) Emerald Awards. The WMFHA Emerald Awards acknowledge the excellent work done by professionals working at rental properties throughout the state.
Discovery West was nominated in two categories:
Community Manager of the Year (151-300 units)
Joe Bonilla, Discovery West – HNN Communities
Community of the Year (151+ units)
Discovery West – HNN Communities
Discovery West has 209 residential units and just over 400 residents. Joe Bonilla, community manager, has been with HNN Communities, Discovery West’s management company, for seven years and has been community manager at Discovery West since September 2019. He is responsible for leasing and marketing the property, managing vendors and employees, developing a sense of community among residents, and, as of last year, helping protect the health and well-being of the Discovery West community.
Pandemic restrictions created a lot of new demands for our personal housing. Not only is where we live our shelter, it’s now also our gym, school, restaurant, theater, art studio, and a myriad of other functions all taking place under the same roof. Joe believes it was his team’s response to the pandemic that earned Discovery West its recent Emerald Award nominations.
“Our amazing teams were dedicated to keeping the community safe and the appearance well-maintained,” Joe said. “Due to the shutdown, this was more difficult, but it was also much more important. The more people were kept at home, the more maintenance was desired and required, but the less resources were available. It demanded that we tightly focus those resources.”
Being able to help so many people with different circumstances involving something as important as their home is the most rewarding part of Joe’s position as a community manager.
The challenges of the pandemic may have made things more difficult, but as a five-year resident of Discovery West, I can attest that Joe and the Discovery West staff have succeeded in keeping up appearance standards while protecting employees and residents with responsible practices and diligent attention to detail. There should be an award for that (and turns out, there is).
Photo (top): (Left) The Discovery West apartment community is located on 8th Avenue NE next to Swedish Hospital. (Top) Joe Bonilla, Discovery West Community Manager. Both Joe and the Discovery West community were nominated for 2021 Washington Multi-Family Housing Association Emerald Awards. Photos provided by Joe Bonilla.
David Beschen is a Discovery West resident.
