By Linda O’Flanagan
Out-of-state developers are stepping up their efforts to attract New York City brokers — and their wealthy clients.
Earlier this month, LXR Luxury Resorts, developers of One Thousand Ocean, a high end condominium on the tip of a private peninsula at the Boca Raton Inlet, partnered with Gumley Haft Kleier to host a soiree for top New York brokers, agents and prospects at The London Hotel in midtown.
The party was filmed for Selling New York the HGTV show in which Michele Kleier, president and chairman of the firm, along with her husband Ian Kleier and daughters Samantha Kleier-Forbes and Sabrina Kleier-Morgenstern all star.
The Kleiers had previously filmed another segment for the show at One Thousand Ocean while it was still under construction.
With the program pulling in some two million viewers a week, that’s a lot of eyeballs on ultra-high-end residences.
“Since [we filmed the first segment], our family has been back in Boca and recently had the opportunity to revisit One Thousand Ocean. We were even more impressed now that it is 65 percent sold and being enjoyed by many of its residents,” said Michele Kleier, adding that her company has now formed a “strategic partnership” with LXR, a partnership both sides anticipate will result in contracts signed for the beach villas and penthouses priced from $3 to $15 million.
“[The Kleiers] have been frequent visitors here and subsequently bought property in the area. They also have high-net-worth New York clients with high expectations who seek properties in prestigious Boca Raton,” said Jamie Telchin, LXR’s president of development.
“We expect that this alliance will bring future interest in One Thousand Ocean from the New York market.”
It’s a formula increasingly being used to help revive some of the toniest developments around the country where sales were often halted during the recession.
Just last week, the developers of The Windsor Park Residences, also in Florida, began a blitz in the Big Apple media to launch their portfolio of rowhouse-style homes.
Windsor is a private residential community spanning 416 acres of barrier island between the Indian River and the Atlantic Ocean in Vero Beach, Florida. Established in 1989, it is now considered one of the country’s finest private sporting club communities.
The new residences, says the developers, have been designed “for those seeking the Windsor lifestyle on a more intimate scale” and prices start at just $1.275 million.
In Las Vegas, developers have picked up the shovels once again and have reached out to brokers across the country to let them know about deals available to buyers this summer.
“The builder will offer to pay for closing costs, also give appliance incentives, and you get upgraded appliances with these homes, whereas with a resale, you are not always going to get that,” one broker told a news station.
Even Walt Disney is getting in on the act. Seeing the market for luxury homes rebound, Walt Disney Co. launched its pricey Golden Oak development last year, setting up a priority reservation list for potential buyers for the first homes to come online in what will ultimately be a 450-home development.
Interested buyers are dropping a refundable $25,000 deposit to be neighbors with Mickey Mouse and live in their very own Disney World for between $1.5 million and $8 million.
As for the Kleiers, the celebrity thrill ride will continue at the end of this month when they will take their TV crew back to Boca to film in the building again. “We plan to include a party that will take place in the largest penthouse,” Kleier said.
