brightSTAR Communities Names Mike Daley Chief Operating Officer

Veteran Multifamily Executive Brings Two Decades of Operations Leadership to Fast-Growing Manufactured Housing Owner-Operator

CINCINNATI, OH, UNITED STATES, September 18, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — brightSTAR Communities has named Mike Daley Chief Operating Officer, putting day-to-day operations of its manufactured housing portfolio in the hands
of an executive who brings more than 20 years of leadership experience across complex, multi-site operations, including nearly a decade in multifamily housing. Daley arrives after the most active stretch in the company’s history: fourteen communities acquired in the last six months across Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, including a 559-site, four-community entry into Illinois in August.

Daley will lead operations across the entire brightSTAR portfolio. brightSTAR has grown on the strength of an operating approach the team has already proven: responsive onsite management, visible reinvestment in each community, and a steady transition for residents when a neighborhood changes hands. Daley’s charge is to give that approach the structure and depth to run at a larger scale.

Daley previously served as Executive Vice President of Operations and People at Independence Realty Trust, a publicly traded multifamily REIT, where he was responsible for a portfolio of approximately 36,000 apartment homes across 120 properties. His broader executive career spans operations, customer experience, technology and business services, including senior leadership roles at RealPage, where he served as President of Level One, as well as Bench Accounting and LexisNexis. Across those organizations, Daley has led large, geographically dispersed teams, including responsibility for more than 2,300 employees supporting operations across 15 countries. An Omaha native who has made the Cincinnati area home, Daley is based at brightSTAR’s Cincinnati home office.

“Mike’s track record is only part of why he’s the right fit for brightSTAR,” said Brandon Schilling, President & CEO of brightSTAR Communities. “He leads people first. That’s how he describes himself, and it’s what the people who have worked for him over the last twenty years say. We are growing fast, and that kind of growth needs an operations leader who develops and empowers the people doing the work. Our residents should never feel the growth. They should feel the improvement. Mike is that leader, and he’s the partner I wanted in this seat.”

That growth is the reason the role exists. brightSTAR has capital improvement programs underway at each of the new communities, including new and upgraded roads, infrastructure work, enhanced amenities and improved curb appeal, alongside an effort to infill the communities with new attainable homes to drive occupancy in markets where little new affordable housing is being built. Daley’s job is to carry that work across a wider footprint without losing the hands-on feel of a neighborhood operator.

“My focus is building the platform brightSTAR needs to keep scaling and to consistently deliver for our residents, our investors and our teams,” Daley said. “Resident experience is the foundation for driving occupancy, retention, and revenue growth. brightSTAR is buying and building neighborhoods
for people and families who expect a safe, attainable place to call home, and we’re committed to delivering that with high standards, responsiveness and trust. We will continue to focus on delivering outstanding service and living experiences to our residents as we grow and expand our geographic
footprint.”

For more information, visit www.brightstarcommunities.com.

About brightSTAR Communities
brightSTAR Communities is an owner and operator of manufactured housing communities focused on quality, attainable housing and long-term community stewardship. Headquartered in Cincinnati, the company owns and operates 31 communities and more than 2,600 home sites across three states. The company acquires and operates communities in markets with strong fundamentals and invests in improvements that support residents, strengthen operations, and drive durable value over time.

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