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Our proven track record for navigating challenges to produce positive outcomes.
Residential extension of a converted historical landmark
in Morristown, NJ
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Project Overview
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We were commissioned to market a condominium addition to a historic mansion in downtown, Morristown,
New Jersey. Originally built to serve as both a residence and a museum nearly a century ago, this historic,
neoclassical mansion assumed a new purpose in 1922, as the municipal offices of Morristown.
While the mansion itself would be converted into high-end commercial space, the developer had decided
to extend the structure with residential wings, yielding 36 luxury condominiums. Sitting just steps
from restaurants, shopping, performing arts, and rail transit into Manhattan, the development had the
very strong appeal of a great in-town location.
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The Challenge
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As the first new condominium development in downtown Morristown, the project offered no comparables.
In addition, the prices the developer was seeking ($800-900 per square foot) were untested in this particular
bedroom community of New York, which already offered many single-family homes at the proposed price
points. In addition, the units were to be sold pre-construction, a difficult task especially given the
large amount of unsold standing inventory on the market. Even if market conditions had not been steadily
deteriorating, these factors would have seriously challenged our team’s ingenuity.
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Strategy
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Our response to this exciting set of challenges was to design a price-sensitive phasing plan to maximize
profitability for each unit category. Our disciplined sales release program released premium units gradually,
offered a consistent mix of product lines and sizes at each phase, and triggered aggressive price increases
upon reaching predefined sales objectives. We foresaw that increasing the price as we sold each unit
would create urgency and demand that would translate into value in the buyer’s mind, thus accelerating
sales velocity and substantiating each successive price increase.
To overcome the issue of accessibility to the product, we created a high-tech, upscale sales gallery
– in a storefront selected for its highly trafficked and high visible location – that included both
virtual tours and scale models as well as kitchen and bath vignettes to feature the finishes. Merchandising
in the sales gallery emphasized the downtown lifestyle and amenities offered by the project’s location
in Morristown, thus reinforcing the overall theme of our marketing campaign.
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Results
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We achieved an average sales pace of five units per month, which was exactly double the sales pace expected
by the developer. 86% of the project sold before construction was completed.
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