When the Aventura, Fla.-based realtor Turnberry Associates decided it wanted to build and sell luxury condos near the Las Vegas strip, the company knew it was taking a bit of a
gamble.
For starters, the massive growth in Las Vegas during the last two decades has been driven by the development of moderately priced, single-family homes. By contrast, Turnberry
would be selling high-end, luxury condos - residences ranging from between 1,550 square feet to more than 8,000 square feet and costing from $525,000 to $5.25 million.
Turnberry, a major realtor in South Florida with more than $1.5 billion in commercial and residential properties, was not deterred. It bought 15 acres of real estate in 1997 to
develop 4 38-story high-rise towers, called Turnberry Place, with a value of $600 million. Construction would start on the first condo in 1998.
Jim O'Connell, president of Hollywood, Fla.-based agency O'Connell & Goldberg, which has handled PR for Turnberry's residential division since 1998, said that prior to
launching the PR plan for the condos, "the client said this concept is either going to take off like a rocket or it's going to crash and burn."
Even before construction got underway, there were serious concerns about sell-through. "There were a lot of doubters," said Bruce Weiner, president of Turnberry's residential
division. "We were building something that you couldn't describe, so I think people were expecting us to be like a lot of the other [luxury realtors] who opened up a trailer near
the site and six months later were gone."
The rub was how to successfully show off Turnberry's condos to a skeptical public. It was tough to sell the sizzle (lavish amenities, including a European-style spa, indoor and
outdoor pools, and a discotheque) without the steak (the actual building). Potential buyers "would not commit until they saw something," Weiner said, adding that Turnberry had
spent $3.5 million in up front costs, including PR. Hoping to capitalize on the capital of glitter, O'Connell and his PR team created an audio-visual tour called "The Ride" that
prospects could experience without ever leaving the sales office - or the ground, for that matter.
The multi-media technology combines computer-controlled lightning, sound and special effects to create an environment that looks and feels like the Turnberry residences. "My
sense tells me that most people wanted to get a great feel for what they were buying into, and the tour was able to set the tone," Weiner said. "It definitely helped us turn a
corner."
Since the simulated tours started in '98 - and throughout the (ongoing) construction process -- Turnberry has sold out three of the condos, and it's nearly sold out most of
the 231 residences in its fourth and final tower (which begins construction in the fall and opens in 2006). Without the tour, "we would have to commit another $8 million to $10
million in start-up costs, so it paid off handsomely," Weiner said.
Media coverage picked up considerably after O'Connell & Goldberg started to spread the message about the audio-visual tour. "The media flipped out," O'Connell said.
Features on Turnberry Place have run in the Associated Press, Bloomberg News, the Chicago Tribune, the Miami Herald, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, and luxe
titles Robb Report and Robb Report Home Entertainment & Design. O'Connell & Goldberg is now working on features about Turnberry Place for the both National Geographic
Channel and the Travel Channel.
Turnberry's bet on Vegas has paid off - in spades. The company recently partnered with the MGM Grand Hotel-Casino to build a condo-hotel complex on the grounds of the MGM Grand
Las Vegas; the first tower already sold out. Turnberry is also developing another condo near the site of the first one, recently announcing plans for Town Center Las Vegas, a 1.2
million-sq.-ft. mall with all the obligatory shops. "We've helped to establish the Turnberry name in Vegas," O'Connell said, "It's the biggest thing there since Steve Wynn."
Contacts: Bruce Weiner, 305.937.6200, [email protected]; Jim O'Connell, 954.964.9098 X 101, [email protected].