Last week we spoke to three industry leaders representing several of the top 50 best-selling master plans in 2020. The second part of this two-part podcast provides some great lessons learned from three more major players.
Featured guests
Colleen Edwards, Marketing Director, River Islands
Laura Cole, Senior Vice President, Lakewood Ranch
Christen Johnson, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Johnson Development
“What I'm finding is you got to stay really flexible in a time like this and just practice ice skating backwards…while juggling live eels. You just have no control. You have to keep the smile and try to be smart all the time for everybody. You know how they used to say in many master plan campaigns: 'This is a place to live, work, play, whatever.' [Now] I think the big word for people is belong. People want to put down roots. They want to feel like this is going to be their place, that it's not just a transitory place going someplace better.”
“We're in Florida, in Sarasota, which of course has been a magnet for in-migration. We're fortunate to be in a great geographic area, but I think if you had to point to one factor, it would be Lakewood Ranch’s multi-generational appeal. And that's particularly come into play during COVID because we were just starting, we were at the ready with a lifestyle and home offerings that really met the intense demand that came from COVID across the pricing spectrum and across the demographic spectrum.”
“One of the things I love is the art that we put in our communities. If you go to any of our communities, you'll see we've got a giant chair and veranda, which is kind of fun. It's interactive. We've got some quirky things like Texas's largest carrot in Harvest Green. Also in Harvest Green, 70% of the landscaping is edible. If you're cooking dinner, you can literally walk outside and get some herbs and seasoning to put in your dinner. And so, we're not just building communities for people to buy a house. This is a lifestyle that people can live for many, many years to come and make great friendships and enjoy all the offerings that we provide.”
For help maximizing sales and price in 2021, please contact our local consulting leaders or Ken Perlman, our Consulting Principal who has become (in our opinion) the national expert on successful master plan segmentation and amenity programs by working closely with our local leadership.
For more information on the master-planned community rankings, metro and regional new home sales and pricing trends, and our residential land, builder, and single-family rental operator surveys, please contact Jody Kahn, Devyn Bachman, or Nicole Luszczak.
Contact Deana Vidal to get more information on the New Home Trends Institute and access to the details in our recently released Master Plan Trends Report.
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