Building The Dream

It's all well and good to have a great site, plenty of up-front money, and a detailed vision of a community that includes a complete set of amenities. But making the dream a reality will require an array of experts who can work together effectively. At the Peninsula, Goldstein assembled a team of independent consultants. “We used multiple architects to design our homes, and we have an entire team of marketing people, economics people, and consultants,” he says.

While WCI used a couple of outside consultants at Old Palm for land planning, most everything else was done in-house. Says Curtin, “We have a full complement of land planners, architects, and landscape people. Everybody on our team knows exactly what our objectives are, they're all profit-oriented, and they're all able to make decisions with a high level of insight.”

Of course, everyone on the team should be as familiar as possible with the site and the surrounding area. “There's usually an architectural theme that becomes part of the whole visual concept, so you need a team that can put that into place,” says Mitchell. That theme should support the community's lifestyle. Mitchell sees part of his job as helping the community's builder teams get a feel for the lifestyle the community offers and understand how to integrate what they build into that lifestyle.

ELEMENTS OF STYLE: Some developers want their communities to have a unique look and feel while conforming to strict design guidelines. At The Peninsula at Indian Bay, in Delaware, such guidelines permit coastal home designs. Some are in the New England style, while others—such as the Hampton model, shown here—have a more Southern architecture.

Three basic rules apply to the amenities for a resort community: (1) they must be first class; (2) they must be comprehensive; and (3) they should be designed to fit the theme of the community.

The basic requisite amenities include a spa or wellness/fitness center; upscale restaurants; a hotel or guest houses for visitors; a pool; a golf course; a post office and other basic town services; and transportation to get residents and visitors to and from the community's attractions. In some cases, the design itself becomes one of the amenities—in many communities, nature trails, gardens, and landscaping features become attractions in their own right.

Subtle touches matter when it comes to the amenities. At Old Palm, for instance, the women's clubhouse was designed with a spa and a grill room, in part because the builders knew that they wouldn't be playing as frequently and would use the clubhouse as a social resource.

Web sites, focus groups, and research all play a part in marketing a resort community, as do working the media and offering model home tours. The process should start early. “We sold homes from a trailer for a month before opening our marketing center,” recalls Goldstein. “Although we had nothing more than a Web site, we had people lined up waiting to buy.”

At Auberge, the key to the marketing process was the company's prior success. “What helps us compete is the quality and strength of our brand. People know us and have had wonderful experiences at our other properties, which gives us an edge,” explains Harmon. “But you still have to get people there. You can write all the words you want, but you have to get people to have the experience. We invite guests who have visited other properties, throw events and openings, and do a lot of PR work. We get travel writers and editors to come see what we've done. It's really word of mouth that makes the impact for us because we're dealing with a relatively small group of people.”

The marketing effort can extend beyond the local area. “We do a lot of national marketing,” says Curtin of the Old Palm approach. “We generate leads from all over the country. These leads go to 30 licensed salespeople in Tampa, Fla., who qualify them and get them to the appropriate community.”

While WCI presells memberships to the golf club before it's built, according to Curtin, the developer seem to be in the minority. Says River Dunes president Mitchell, “We don't do it that way, we start with the amenities and get them in or well under way before we start our sales process.” Mitchell believes that taking control of the amenities puts the developer in a position to increase the community's value over time. “We're willing to stay in the process and make sure its value appreciates. I think you'll find that in most great planned communities, that's the course that most developers take. They don't just give birth to it, they actually raise it.”