Despite the fact that Americans love to communicate via social media and other web-based apps, virtual relationships will never replace their need for a sense of community, according to land planner Thomas W. Kopf. “People have a hunger for that connection,” he told the audience at an educational session during the 2018 International Builders’ Show in Orlando.
This desire to connect is changing the way developers and builders think about amenities, agreed co-presenter Anthony Faranda-Dierdrich, director of community development at Lancaster, Pa.-based Charter Homes and Neighborhoods. Million dollar banquet rooms that rarely get used are not what buyers look for these days. “They want authentic experiences to connect with their neighbors,” he said.
This sense of authenticity starts with the land, said Kopf, a principal at Boulder, Colo.-based DTJ Design. Savvy developers leverage the unique character of each site. (RELATED: 18 Clubhouses That Raise the Bar on Design).
“When we sit down to design our neighborhoods we always look at natural features that can be preserved and put forward,” said Faranda-Dierdrich. “We preserve anything that can be used as a gathering space.”
For instance, Kopf said, the Anthem community in Colorado sold well even during recession because of its mountain views, trails, and open space. “It reflects a lifestyle that buyers want to be part of,” Kopf said.
Other simple amenities that resonate with residents include the community campsite at California's Rancho Mission Viejo or the National Park Service-style trail system at the Post in the Pacific Northwest, said Kopf.
During the session, Kopf, Faranda-Dierdrich, and co-presenter Teri Slavik-Tsuyuki, founder of marketing consultancy tst.ink, provided a range of ideas for how to entice buyers with of-the-moment amenities. They include:
--Main Street style retail shops of less than 30,000 square feet are ideal ways to provide gathering spots, Kopf said. Consider coffee shops, yoga studios, and bookstores, placed within walking distance of residences, and with residences on the floors above. In fact, Charter’s tagline, “Life a Walk Away,” highlights the fact that residents can connect with one another without having to drive.
--Celebrate the history of the site. Name features after current or historical local celebrities.
--Give potential buyers something to remember their visit to the community besides a logoed bottle of water, said Slavik-Tsuyuki, former chief marketing officer for Newland Commnities and recipient of the Marvin Design Award. For example, one of her clients distributes a pouch of regionally flavored spices.
--Create sites that allow residents to interact with nature, said Kopf. “Often developers are so concerned about liability that they block off nature to the point where they don’t let people wade in the water or fish, but that’s what residents really enjoy.”
--Carefully consider where best to spend your landscape budget, Kopf said, to create memorable spaces. “We call it a landscape trail, an area of beauty that people can experience as they move throughout the community,” he said.
--Community gardens give homeowners a sense of pride in where they live and are a way for residents to enjoy a shared interest. The New Home Company’s successful Cannery project in Davis, Calif., was the state’s first farm-to-table new home community, Kopf said.
--Keep in mind that many young buyers are moving from high-end multifamily communities where they have had access to top amenities, so they expect them in a new home community as well.
--“Events make the community,” said Kopf. Fun runs, swim meets, fireworks, food truck parties, live performances, and wine tastings are just a few ideas.
--At its Walden community, Charter planners created a pocket park modeled after the Poets Walk area of New York’s Central Park. “It was very easy to do and our buyers love it,” said Faranda-Dierdrich . “The $50,000 we spent for this space we’ve recouped four or five times over in homesite premiums.”
--Street trees are an often overlooked but powerful amenity, Faranda-Dierdrich said. “It’s so simple. When you overplant your streets with trees it really adds to the charm of the neighborhood and draws people in.”
--Remember that amenities are a crucial sales tool that tell a story and communicate the promise of what life in the community will be like, said Slavik-Tsuyuki.
--Placing a café in the welcome center (like at Newland Community's Wendell Falls development in North Carolina) makes it feel less like a sales office.
--Consumers expect integrated, personalized experiences. For instance, at the Roots clothing store near Denver, shoppers can create their own jackets. “How might we think about amenities this way?” Slavik-Tsuyuki asked the audience. “Think less about what and more about why.”
--Many times amenities are the first structures built in a development so make sure they show off the community’s personality. “Even a green space pocket park in a small 25-unit project helps give a sense of what the neighborhood will be like,” said Slavik-Tsuyuki. “If you just put a chain link fence on the ground and call it a dog park that’s probably not going to work.”
--Enhance the site’s natural offerings with simple, authentic structures such as a boathouse, trailhead with bike pump and water fountain, sledding hill, or dock.
--Even utilitarian features like sidewalks and stormwater retention ponds can add pizzazz. At a Charter development outside Philadelphia, the company provided landscaped around the retention pond and turned it into an in-demand feature by ringing it with a trail, and turning the homes to face it. The company also offers wide sidewalks and granite curbing, which cost a bit more but “pay you back in so many ways,” said Faranda-Dierdrich.
