About Us
Noel Kao — Chicago General Manager
Originally from Southern California, Noel worked in hospitality and managed teams in both the food and real estate industries for over a decade. She took a leap of faith and joined the Smart City Dallas team as an agent in 2020, where she quickly fell in love with helping clients find a new space to call home. She has a passion for mentoring new agents and the rich Smart City culture, which she decided to bring with her to the Windy City as she elevated to Market Leader, launching Smart City Chicago!
Our Story
Smart City started in 2013 as a small apartment locating service in Dallas, Texas. In the early days, our founder and CEO Cassie Brown just wanted to help her friends find great places to live, but her innate drive to offer an amazing client experience quickly set Smart City apart from the competition. Since then, Smart City has taken big strides to disrupt the real estate industry by choosing what’s right over what’s profitable. We are growing rapidly, with services available in major metro areas across three states. And, as always, our goal is to always put you—our customer—first.
Our Purpose
When Smart City was first founded, our goal was “to become the most trusted, most referred, and most utilized resource among renters in Texas.” We’ve broadened our scope considerably as our business has grown, but those basic ideals still remain. In short, Smart City is here to find you a space where you can be yourself.
Our People
At Smart City, we’re an eclectic (and growing) team of thinkers, creators, and doers who are passionate about hooking people up with the apartments of their dreams. That’s why, for us, it isn’t enough to simply provide our clients with a list of available rentals. We want to build a connection with each and every customer. We want to take the chore out of apartment hunting so you can actually enjoy the search. And we want to work with you all along the way—from search to application to move-in—to make sure you end up in a space that you truly love.
Finding You a Space in Chicago Where You Can Be Yourself
Apartment hunting in Chicago shouldn’t be a chore. We want you to be excited about the process and thrilled about your prospects. We want to build a connection with you and find out your wants, your needs, your “gotta haves” and your wildest dreams so we can find the Chicago apartment that’s absolutely perfect for you.
We’re Smart City – Chicago, and we’re here to find you a space where you can be yourself.
Our Accolades
Diverse & Inclusive Employer
- The Startup Weekly
2021
Best Places to Work
- Dallas Business Journal
2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019
- Houston Business Journal
2017
- Glassdoor
2018 (#19)
Dallas 100 Entrepreneur Award
- Caruth Institute for Entrepreneurship (SMU)
2019
Inc. 5000
- Nationals
2019 (#670), 2020 (#1086),
2021 (#2447)
- Regionals: Texas
2020 (#87)
Entrepreneur 360
- #190
2018
- #299
2019
Top CEOs
- Glassdoor
2019 (#16)
35 Under 35
- LGBTQ Leader, Business Category
2019
Women in Business Award
- Dallas Business Journal
2019
Best of Austin
- Austin Chronicle
2019, 2021, 2022, 2023