Page 44 —
COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— May 4-May 17, 2016
Professional Services
M
ost everyone who
has followed the
apartment con-
struction boom realizes that
multifamily supply will likely
peak within the next year.
The year 2014 saw 340,000
multifamily starts, the high-
est level since the 1980s and
many primary markets expect
to break those local levels in
2015.
So what do existing prop-
erty owners and managers
do to compete? Some of these
new properties come in with
hip new buildings, trendy
amenities and technological
upgrades. Existing property
owners need to be thinking
about both the long-term
leasing success of their build-
ing and the asset value itself.
Central Development
owns The Meadows at Town
Center, a 104-unit apart-
ment complex in the Denver
suburb of Thornton, built in
1974. In 2010 rent rates aver-
aged $733 and occupancy was
at 54 percent. After investing
in new branding, signage and
some facility upgrades, the
property took off.
“Branding brought The
Meadows at Town Center
into the 21st century”, said
Central Development prin-
cipal Jeremy Records, “This
was so valuable in doubling
our rent rates, the property
is full with a waiting list,
upgrading quality of tenant
and improving the overall fla-
vor of the location.”
Records went on to say,
“For us marketing is cost
effective and should help
much more than you think.
Marketing costs less than
building overhauls and is
seen by more people than the
inside of the property itself.
So it makes sense for our
Central Development proper-
ties to have marketing that
is updated, upgraded and
looking good. Think about
the brand, the website and
the signage for a moderate
facelift. In total we invested
$50,000 in branding, web and
signage for the Meadows and
received a most favorable
return.
“When Central
Development goes into a new
project, we start with the
foundation and look at the
brand first,” said Records.
“In looking at the more suc-
cessful properties around
metro areas you will almost
certainly find a good brand
behind these projects. The
branding is a reflection of the
development. So if your logo
and signage looks dated, most
people will perceive the prop-
erty as dated.”
Most owners understand
that renters visit the property
website first
before sign-
ing a lease,
which is why
there is a
disconnect
with proper-
ties taking
shortcuts
on their
marketing
approach.
Omni
Develop-
ment is the
owner of
an 86-unit apartment home
development for 55 and older
in Aurora.
“There is a huge difference
between sticking a prop-
erty photo with a logo into
a template versus an actual
marketing campaign that cre-
atively showcases your devel-
opment,” said Debbie Witte,
chief financial officer of Omni
Development.
“It was important for us to
understand renter behavior,
and we know the majority of
people make a decision based
on emotion. Good marketing
connects emotionally with
your audience so we upgraded
our Bella Vita website to a
well-thought-out campaign,
and saw a 17 percent increase
in occupancy in less than a
year,” added Witte.
The SugarCube Building
offers luxury residences for
lease in downtown Denver.
When the building opened for
business in the summer of
2008, the real estate market
was in a severe downward
spiral. Reaching potential
renters and communicating
the lifestyle choices the build-
ing offered quickly became a
major priority. DB Marketing
developed a campaign for the
owner, Urban Villages, com-
bining remarkable photogra-
phy with memorable copy in
Luxury For Lease.
“Led by large oversized win-
dow graphics, a full website
launch and print collateral,
we were able to visually take
their audience and transport
them into these architectur-
ally astonishing residences,”
said Andy Schlauch, manag-
ing broker for Urban Villages.
“In spite of opening the
building in middle of the
worst real estate down cycle
in many years, we were able
to lease all 37 luxury apart-
ments, at rates that were
nearly three times the asking
rate for apartments at the
time,” added Schlauch. In
addition, Urban Villages was
able to leverage the market-
ing and branding campaign to
bring in two new restaurants
to occupy the bottom floor
retail space.
“The success of our build-
ing during the downturn is a
direct reflection of our mar-
keting and branding efforts.
We were able to establish
the SugarCube building as
a brand in the market that
is known for unsurpassed
luxury and service. As the
new supply comes online,
reaching customers and stay-
ing in front of them with a
well defined brand will be
as important as ever,” added
Schlauch.
The competition is here.
According to the recent
Apartment Association of
Metro Denver Economic con-
ference, the market is already
seeing price incentives, long-
term lease offers or even
concessions in some areas. If
you’re an existing property,
why not focus on putting
yourself in the best position
to compete for market share
versus cheap pricing tactics.
You can always lower the cost
of a unit, it’s much harder to
increase pricing.
Stand out from the crowd
and focus on your property
marketing. Utilize effective
communications to create an
identity, differentiate from
the competition and com-
municate what makes you
special. After all, if you don’t
say anything about yourself,
someone else will.
s
Doug Backman
Managing director,
DB Marketing,
Denver
