- Home
- » Projects
- » Case Studies
Resort Advisors Case Studies
-
Northstar Club, Northstar-at-Tahoe, Lake Tahoe CA
This 18-unit Private Residence Club has been sold out for 6 years. Located steps from the Northstar gondola it is at the center of the Northstar resort complex.
The Challenge
"Changing the tire on a car while going 60 mph."
Resort Advisors purchased the property in the 1990s, very early in the private residence club world. We designed the product, but half way through construction we determined that the quality of the product being built was less than the reservation holders expected as presales were made. In those days there were only the Deer Valley Club and Franz Klammer Lodge to follow, and both those were destination resort areas.
Lake Tahoe, conversely, is a regional resort with many destination attributes. However, like all ski resort areas it's the winter that sets the pricing and use patterns. That's where the 'destination attributes' came into play, as the buyers, while coming from the San Francisco Bay Area, also skied at the Aspens, Vails, Park Cities, etc. So, as they purchased they wanted more luxurious units.
The Action
Resort Advisors stopped construction, held the reservation holders under contract, re-designed the project, restarted construction and sold out while making a profit.
The Result
This process demonstrated that Resort Advisors could remain flexible, read the market and has the smarts to make mid-stream changes all the while keeping marketing and sales discipline.
-
Meriwether Ranch, Melrose MT
The first Private Residence Club for the outdoorsman, located on the legendary Big Hole River in Southwestern Montana offering just 34 building sites in a 720-acre development.
The Challenge
Moving forward the frontiers of fractional ownership.
The developer designed this spectacular site to be environmentally friendly with 690 acres going into a conservation easement. Two specially designed bridges spanned the Big Hole gaining the support of local and national environmental organizations. By the time Resort Advisors came to the project all the infrastructure was in at a very substantial cost.
A home site event sale was not successful, and through a consultant fractions were recommended. Resort Advisors was hired to design and implement the fractional program. The market for blue ribbon, Western Montana fishing is national, so a marketing campaign was designed to reach high-income fishermen via numerous small circulation fishing and outdoor journals. Award winning collateral materials were designed to bring reality to the opportunity of ownership on the Big Hole River.
Two residence sizes were designed, 3900 and 2000 square feet respectively to be sold on a 1/8th and a 1/10th interest basis. The share sizes were to appeal to families and sportsmen sans families.
The Action
Design a project for fly fishermen, who have a sophisticated psychographic profile, research a truly segmented national market, and formulate a mini-vacation program where the customer pays $750 plus airfare to visit.
The Result
A 34% close on mini-vacation prospects and a sales rate established that will lead to a successful sell-out in 2010.
-
Front Four, Stowe VT
The first building of a new village at the base of the Stowe ski mountain. The resort is owned by AIG.
The Challenge
A mixed-use building comprised of fractions and condo-hotel units that was designed from the ground up with Resort Advisors guiding the fractional component. AIG was the developer and Destination Hotels the manager for the condo-hotel and fractions. AIG had spent many years meeting Vermont's tough permitting requirements and the village's development would be evidence that their 50 year ownership of Stowe could pay off in more than lift ticket sales.
The Action
Resort Advisors and the condo-hotel company put together separate sales teams in a common facility with cross training and ‘turn-over’ financial incentives for the extensive presale period. The project was late in getting registered in key states, so most leads were generated from skiers on site. Resort Advisors aggressively solicited customers of the resort through the two-day lodges and the town to Stowe some miles away.
The Result
Phase one fractional sales exceeded projections and a conversion rate of seventy [70%] percent was achieved from reservation to hard contract.
-
Manhattan Club, NYC
The largest urban timeshare in the World developed and sold out in mid-town Manhattan.
The Challenge
Take a small corner of the timeshare business to the Big Apple. Resort Advisors' principals had developed and sold urban projects in San Francisco and New Orleans, but nothing the size of The Manhattan Club. For over two years the search for the right site continued until we found the original Sheraton flag-ship hotel, then owned by VMS, on Seventh Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets.
The property was still a hotel, 26 stories high, fronting the full block, with over 900 rooms. The purchase was made and the building vertically split into two condominiums - a timeshare and a hotel.
The Action
The timeshare side, on 56th Street was entirely rehabbed into 242 luxury one bedroom, two bath units and became The Manhattan Club. During the process the top floor was changed from a ballroom to an owners lounge, fitness facility, business center and conference rooms, while a new lobby was created on 56th Street.
Based on the San Francisco experience an open, year around use plan was implemented with nightly use. To the timeshare marketer world-class cities are appealing as they draw millions of visitors. However, those visitors are not found in defined areas compared to Orlando or Las Vegas. They are all over the place. So, city marketing relies on mini-vacations as the leading program.
Again, from San Francisco experiences, we knew that the primary market was in the tri-state area; those people who came to Manhattan to work, for culture, dining, sports and shopping. The marketing department was built to rollout a 365 day a year sustained mini-vac program. The sales facility was carved out of the building, and in hindsight limited the number of customers to be seen each day so annual sales averaged in the $40-$45 million range.
The Result
The Manhattan Club is sold out. The limit on sales turned into an advantage, as efficiencies were very, very high. Subsequent to the main 242-unit development a series of offices on top of the building were converted into timeshare units that were more luxurious than below, and they sold out to the original owners.
-
Brockway Springs, Lake Tahoe CA
The first fee-ownership timeshare project in the World.
The Challenge
Bring to market a concept that had a few early entrants, who sold an unregistered lease product, and to 'do it right'
Innisfree, the Hyatt subsidiary, was a land developer, so moving over chosen sales personnel to sell timeshare was a hit and miss process. Marketing, however, was effective as it was directed to those who chose not to buy a lot, but wanted immediate use. There was no exchange option at that time.
The Action
Resort Advisors' principal, Carl Berry, began on the quest of shared ownership in 1969. By 1972 he had joined the resort development subsidiary of Hyatt Corporation, and got them to agree to try shared ownership. Their project at Lake Tahoe was chosen for the launch. During the ramp-up period the term, 'timesharing' was taken from shared mainframe computers, and applied to the new product.
Through Hyatt's law firm a California Department of Real Estate public report was issued for timesharing, Title Insurance and Trust agreed to issue a title policy, Placer County agreed to record the interest and AVCO finance agreed to provide buyer financing, and Brockway Springs timesharing came to market in late 1972.
The Result
Brockway Springs was a mix-use project. The small, timeshare, test was successful and all the two-week interests, fixed time and fixed unit were sold. Families who purchased then still own today.
