Building a stand-alone model home to sell individual units for a multifamily development seems like a contradiction, but not for The Related Group. In fact, the company also specializes in being different by offering loads of technology amenities in its large-scale multifamily developments. Indeed, offering high-end amenities has never been a problem for the $2.1 billion multifamily specialists based in Miami. The dilemma has been how to best show off those amenities to prospective buyers.
The company appears to have solved that quandary at its St. Regis Bal Harbour development where it constructed a separate six-room, 4,000-square-foot "model home" dedicated design center across the street from the project. The design center has two distinct tiers of technology, including a 7-foot x 22-foot multimedia presentation wall and an incredible 50-inch plasma touchpanel control interface. In all, The Related Group spent $180,000 on electronics alone to showcase itself as a tech-savvy builder … and it appears to be working.
Creating an Ultra High-End MDU
Established in 1979, The Related Group claims to be the nation's leading builder of luxury condominiums and the top multifamily real estate development in Florida. Founded by chairman and CEO Jorge M. Pérez, the company has built and managed more than 55,000 residential units throughout Florida and cites itself as the largest Hispanic-owned business in the United States, with a current development portfolio including projects valued in excess of $10 billion, with reported sales of more than $2.1 billion for 2004.
The Related Group first contracted with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) back in March 2005, forming a joint venture to develop a new St. Regis Resort & Residences in one of South Florida's most exclusive enclaves, Bal Harbour. (Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchiser of hotels and resorts under the brand names St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton, and W brands.)
The official name for the 511-unit building is St. Regis Resort & Residences, Bal Harbour, and it will break ground in mid-2007. The facility will consist of condos, condo-hotels, and fractionals, which are similar to timeshares, but more like "private residence clubs" in exclusive areas that can be rented out when the owners are not using the property. The development is being constructed on the existing site of the 50-year-old Sheraton Bal Harbour, right on the Atlantic Ocean beach. The Sheraton is going to be razed for the new facility. The one-, two- and three-bedroom units range between 2,500 and 3,000 square feet and will start selling for $1.9 million each. The facility will have gourmet restaurants, a state-of-the-art fitness center, public gardens, beautiful decorative fountains and pool features.
Only a select few of Starwood's hotels merit the St. Regis name, which is characterized by sumptuous amenities, including butler service, concierge service, a world-class spa and a signature restaurant. This development will have the added bonus of being located directly across the street from The Bal Harbour Shops, home to 100 flagship stores including Hermes, Gucci, Prada, Dolce and Gabbana, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus. The shops also offer their patrons services such as valet parking, personal shoppers, and first-rate dining options.
Design Center Gets Creative
In the case of Bal Harbour, The Related Group had to be very creative when finding space for a design center to showcase the technology and other amenities, especially in densely concentrated North Miami Beach. The company, which prides itself on providing functional living spaces and exceptional amenities for projects, needed a sales center to pre-sell condo units. So it decided to construct a 4,000-square-foot "model home" loaded with amenities on the Sheraton's existing site. After the existing Sheraton hotel is destroyed, the design center will move across the street to another location, according to David Arnold of Fort Lauderdale-based Media Design Associates (MDA), the integration company that worked on the design center.
The facility has two tiers of technology. The first tier was to distribute high-definition video and audio throughout, utilizing state-of-the-art control technology designed to showcase the property's high-definition promotional video. The second directive was to deliver a high-impact, 7-foot x 22-foot multimedia presentation wall to be used during special events and daily as an electronic billboard during regular sales center office hours.
For MDA, the main goals of this project were to incorporate Crestron controls via TPMC-10 with a large 50-inch Sony plasma that doubles as a touchscreen. The 50-inch touchscreen is used to demo standard multimedia presentations and also acts as a control point for multimedia floor plans and the main theater area during presentations.
MDA had to engineer and design an overlay, which became a touchscreen control for the 50-inch plasma. MDA also integrated a Crestron system for demonstrating control of lighting, drapery, HVAC, the fireplace in the master bedroom and audio/video throughout the model home. In addition to the 50-inch and 10-inch touchscreens, in-wall touchscreens and keypads are utilized to demonstrate total control for audio and video functions in the sales center's kitchen, living room, den and bathroom. A/V functionality includes an Escient media server and Dataton multimedia servers, both integrated with the Crestron controls. The technology showcase, however, is the large 9-foot x 25-foot wall (no screen) that receives 7-foot x 22-foot images from two Digital Projection Inc. D-Vision HD projectors. Because the wall is so wide, two units were necessary and the images actually overlap in the center. The designer on the job says the screen detracts aesthetically, thus, the screen is simply paint on the wall, says Arnold.
"The system, in essence, is designed to mimic the sales process," say Arnold, which is important since MDA's staff does not man the design center, only staff from The Related Group. "The Crestron system is serving two purposes in this application: First, to sell MDU units, and second, to sell technology. The Related Group's sales staff has not indicated that it has made a huge difference in selling more units, but it is definitely conveying the image that they are tech-savvy."
The Related Group's sales staff uses the touchscreens to guide homeowners through the sales process inside the design center. If homeowners have detailed questions, MDA is usually referred to via the phone.
Arnold says the technology cost alone in the model home is $180,000, saying, "The Related Group does everything the best and we created a system to meet that budget. The developer purchased the system from us."
According to George Giebel, vice president and managing director of The Related Group, the sales center is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on the weekends from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Has it been worth it? So far, yes, he says, but the final verdict is still out. Giebel says the developer has been able to upsell customers, but as part of a total "concept" sale about "the St. Regis lifestyle."
In terms of advice for other MDU builders looking to spend this kind of dough on a "temporary sales center," Giebel says his recommendation has stipulations. "It all depends on the product they are selling and how they are applying home technology to this," he says.
The Related Group's developments are often distinguished by groundbreaking partnerships with world-renowned architects, designers and artists to create residential developments that become urban landmarks. This is no exception. Perez is often very involved in the details, according to Arnold, and he integrated the Media Design Associates closely with the architect and designer for the design center.