RALEIGH, NC – January 31, 2012 – The Preiss Company is pleased to announce that Anthony Magnelli, property manager of University Village at Slippery Rock—the company’s first student housing property in Pennsylvania—was recently named Property Manager of the Year by the Western Pennsylvania Apartment Association (WPAA). Magnelli was honored in December at the organization’s annual holiday gala.

University Village at Slippery Rock serves the students at Slippery Rock University and is a 632-bed, 200-unit property with two-bedroom, two-bathroom and four-bedroom, four-bathroom units. Under Magnelli’s management, University Village at Slippery Rock was 100% occupied for the 2011/2012 year by February 2011, has an average delinquency rate of less than 1% each month, and is currently 86% preleased for 2012/2013 season. Magnelli says that he is extremely honored by his WPAA award and attributes his success to the leadership of The Preiss Company.

“Despite the rapid growth that The Preiss Company is experiencing, the company has still managed to keep a family feel,” says Magnelli. “Our goal is for our residents to experience that same family feel at all of our properties and to not only think back on their experience at their university, but to also remember all of the great times at their home.”

Adam Byrley, Regional Manager, says that Magnelli has been an integral part of The Preiss Company’s success and is already surpassing occupancy expectations for next year.

“In student housing, any time you can fill a property to 100% is an amazing accomplishment,” says Byrley. “Sometimes some markets are better than others, but very rarely does a site ever fill to capacity. Under Anthony’s leadership, our property in Pennsylvania not only exceeded expectations last year by achieving 100% occupancy, but we’re well on our way to repeating the distinction this year. Everyone at The Preiss Company is extremely proud of Anthony, and we consider ourselves fortunate to have him on our team.”

At The Preiss Company’s Strategic Planning in October 2011, University Village at Slippery Rock won the Jumpstart Award based on highest pre-lease percentage throughout the company’s entire portfolio. That same year, the property also won for highest occupancy percentage for properties over 600 beds, as well as lowest delinquency percentage for properties over 600 beds.

“During our strategic planning sessions, Anthony continually demonstrates his aptitude at team building, leasing, and collections,” says company founder and CEO Donna Preiss. “The teams that he brings to strategic planning are often recognized for their excellence. As Albert Einstein said, ‘Try not to be a person of success, but rather a person of value.’ Anthony clearly brings value to his team and to our company. I can’t think of a more deserving person to be given such an honor.”