Residential Design 2005, a convention and tradeshow organized by the Boston Society of Architects, was held last week at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston.
Housing developers in cities like New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago are adopting marketing and branding strategies that have been used for years by urban retailers and hotel operators.
In the Boston area, developers like Pappas Properties have instituted innovative marketing programs to promote such new projects as The Macallen Building Condominiums, the second phase of a development that will include 140 residential units located on the border of the city’s South Boston and South End neighborhoods, and First + First, 22 townhouses that are being built in South Boston.
Those projects were highlighted last week at a workshop that was part of Residential Design 2005, a convention and tradeshow organized by the Boston Society of Architects. The event, held at the Seaport World Trade Center, drew about 7,000 architects, builders and designers.
Titled “Marketing Design Innovation for New Urban Housing,” the workshop examined strategies for introducing housing developments to the public and ways to link marketing strategies to architectural and interior design.
In the case of the First + First townhouses, a project that will feature three-bedroom, 4-story row houses, Pappas Properties hired a marketing team to develop a brochure that tells a “lifestyle story” and explains how each floor of the townhouses will work for homebuyers.
The first floor of the units features a mud room and garage, while the second floor includes the living room, dining room and kitchen. The bedrooms and bathroom are located on the third floor and the top floor has a terrace that can be used as a playroom or master bedroom.
The developer and architect took the challenges of working with a tall skinny house on a smaller piece of land and turned it into a marketing technique to tout the benefits of “vertical living,” explained Tim Love, a principal of the Boston architectural firm Utile Inc., which designed the town houses.
Love pointed out that in a typical residential project, a developer works with a broker to develop a pro forma for a project, discussing market demand and conditions. Then an architect is hired to design the project, and the developer goes through the process of getting the appropriate permits and variances.
After those tasks are completed, a broker markets the project and a marketing consultant is hired. Toward the completion, a broker brings in an interior designer to design a home model.
But some developers, including Pappas Properties, are retooling that process, according to Love, by first working with the architect and marketing consultant to develop a concept, and later consulting with a broker about whether the market supports it.
A ‘Lifestyle Culture’
Darryl Cilli, executive creative director of 160over90, a marketing and design firm in Philadelphia, said his company has been applying the branding strategies common in the hospitality, automotive and fashion industries to urban residential developments.
Cilli’s firm was tapped by Goldman Properties, which has developed in Miami’s South Beach area and New York City’s SoHo district, to name a struggling Philadelphia neighborhood where the developer planned to build a 650,000-square-foot mixed-use project.
After some research, the firm settled on Blocks Below Broad, which described the neighborhood’s geographical location. 160over90 also created marketing materials, including a custom magazine with articles and photos highlighting the neighborhood’s coffeehouses, bars, boutiques and art galleries.
In order to attract hip retailers, restaurants and fashionable residents, those types of marketing tools were needed to sell a “lifestyle culture,” said Cilli.
But Cilli emphasized that the magazine and marketing materials did not include stock photos, but photographs that were taken in the neighborhood. The firm tried to be truthful in its marketing and portray the neighborhood, now known as B3, honestly, he said.
“We would show the grit and contrast it with this type of elegance,” Cilli said, pointing to pages from the magazine. “We had to convince people that you could live your life Â… within these 10 blocks.”
Pappas Properties has hired 160over90 to handle media and some marketing for The Macallen Building project. But the developer also opened a sales office for the project early on, and is the exclusive marketing agent for the property.
Forty-one units are already under agreement even though construction hasn’t officially begun, said Timothy Pappas, senior vice president of Pappas Properties.
In creating the concept for the Macallen condos, the company started off with the idea of trying to draw residents away from other Boston neighborhoods, particularly homeowners who had some equity in their properties and first-time buyers who wanted to take advantage of low mortgage interest rates, Pappas said.
Pappas said the company visited new homes that were available in Boston neighborhoods and realized that the spaces weren’t designed to accommodate changes that occur in life, such as marriage or a new baby. Instead, many of the units were based on what had been built earlier.
“[They were] almost cookie-cutter in nature,” he said.
Pappas set out to create more flexible spaces and layouts in the Macallen condos, which will be located near the MBTA stop, and aimed to keep the price points low – between $300,000 and $800,000 – to reach the broadest market, Pappas explained. Buyers also will be able to customize their units with various bathroom and kitchen finishes.
In addition, the project, designed by Office dA in Boston, will implement “green building” features. Each unit will be constructed from non-toxic and recycled materials, and the building will have a green roof.
Aglaia Pikounis may be reached at apikounis@thewarrengroup.com.
