Selling Silo Point via the Seven Deadly Sins
Turner Development, which is selling the high-end Silo Point condos in Locust Point, is hoping to appeal to your greed. Also, your gluttony, pride and other baser urges.
The company's new marketing for the project -- once a grain elevator, now a residential tower with room service, a wine club and round-the-clock concierge coverage -- is based on the Seven Deadly Sins. The company launched the campaign about two weeks ago with a focus on avarice ("Silo Point Greed: It's OK to want more," say the Facebook ads).
A new sin will be rolled out every month or so, though you get a preview on the Silo Point site, where the sins switch up every time you reload the page ("PRIDE: Bragging Rights for Sale").
Eric Turner, who oversees Silo Point, said Turner Development wanted a new campaign that was "a little edgy, a little cocky, a little in your face" after two years centered around images of the tower and its units. Expect to see deadly-sin events as well as ads, he said.
"We wanted people talking about it," he said.
He thinks the early results are heartening, and not just because I heard of it through Facebook (via colleague Gus Sentementes) rather than from a press release. "The past two weekends, everybody that came to the door was like, 'I saw the ads, the ads were great,'" Turner said.
Silo Point units have been for sale since fall 2008, right in time for the U.S. financial meltdown. Turner said just over half of the 228 units have sold so far -- meaning settled deals -- with another 25 units under contract.
"We're very, very proud of that, considering the market," he said.
Among the unsold condos, the least pricey are a couple of units under $300,000 while the most expensive is the $4.2 million penthouse. The project's early sales were generally at the lower price end, while more recent contracts have been closer to the million-dollar mark, Turner said.
He said the Silo Point team decided to start with greed for its new Seven Deadly Sins campaign because they figured that would play well during the spring buying season. "Gluttony" will focus on Silo Point restaurants, including a new one about to be announced. "Sloth" is about the concierge services -- "you can be a little lazy," Turner said.
I didn't think to ask about lust. Guess we'll just to have to wait and see.
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Comments
Love that Silo Point is still getting attention! Such a great project (and I'm only slightly biased).
Posted by: Renee | April 21, 2011 9:26 AM
This is one of the more clever advertising campaigns I've seen in quite some time. Kudos!
Posted by: Colleen | April 21, 2011 11:58 AM
Perhaps this campaign is not the most appropriate when you consider that a) we have just suffered one of the worst economies of the past 100 years, b) many of the surrounding homeowners are still underwater on their mortgages, and c) Pat Turner, the developer of the project, was Developer No.3 in the Dixon corruption debacle!
Posted by: Feral Hill | April 21, 2011 12:18 PM
Where's the D who started the posting war on Silo Point prior to construction being completed? Probably lost his job as a mortgage wholesaler shortly after purchasing his $300k studio.
Posted by: FrankieSez | April 21, 2011 1:18 PM
Maybe they should advertise the fact that several Orioles and Ravens players live there...
Posted by: Jeremy | April 21, 2011 2:29 PM
I believe the poster who went on and on about how wonderful Silo Point was many months ago, was named Ballor or Bailor. Hey, whatever happened to him ???
Unless they are renting, I don't see any Ravens or Orioles listed as Silo Point owners on the SDAT tax records. Although I must admit, I'm not familiar with all of the players.
Posted by: Kathy | April 21, 2011 2:56 PM
Very appropriate ad campaign. If anyone is familiar with sin, it is certainly Patrick Turner.
Posted by: Bar Owner | April 21, 2011 3:33 PM
my fiance goes to a salon that's on the ground floor of that building. nice area, good amenities, i think there is a new supermarket near there (maybe a kroger?). these are smart people designing and running that property and i hope it catches on. i'd love to see some more redevelopment in that area.
on the other hand, i'm not sure if the economy is right for this type of high end development catering to this demographic. it's going to take a while to get that place filled up (all units sold) and their monthly carrying costs must be considerable. of course, it all comes down to what tax deals are in place for the developer. even if the developer is crooked, as a city resident i do applaud any high-quality new construction in the city that draws in people willing/able to add significantly to the tax base.
Posted by: chappy10 | April 22, 2011 12:56 AM
With the stock market, gas and food prices all being more expensive to buy right now - it makes sense to start spending that extra money (or is really less money) on overpriced condos and condo fees! Being underwater on mortgages with the other residents makes for great comraderie and parties. I am a lot of really cool friends who live there and they tell me all the time how great it is to live there.
Posted by: Stuart Smiley | April 22, 2011 9:36 AM
I am no financial-wiz, but it's pretty obvious that real estate market has far from hit bottom. If it did, then perhaps foreclosures would not be continuing to go up, with the price of gold (which is over $1,500 and few seemed to see it coming). Anyway, I may not know much, but I think it's not time to be buying expensive condos marketed around the seven deadly sins. I was lucky enough to sell my condo just before the crash and am happy renting for a while. My rental property is twice as big as my condo was and the landlords take care of all repairs, appliances, and unexpected cost. I only pay $1,300 a month for a HUGE 2 bedroom apartment, as compared to the $2,800 before (mortgage + condo fees + taxes). I will happilly plug my landlords www.mtvernonflats.com/ before I plug greedy condo sellers!
Posted by: Brian Storms | April 25, 2011 11:48 PM
Silo Point is a welcome addition to Locust Point, and Silo Point should be pushing the neighborhood in their ad campaign. If you have never been to Locust Point you need to spend at least an afternoon here. Start at Fort McHenry with its beautiful grounds, tour of the Fort, and awesome water views. A Harris Teeter grocery store is being built along with upscale shops in the neighborhood. Locust Point is a village, and you can walk to a wide range of awesome restaurants (crabhouse, taverns, pubs, upscale dining), and a nice big park that includes a dog park. You can pick up the water taxi very easily to get anywhere around the harbor (fun memorable way to get around with out of town guests), and there is also a Merritt Gym with an outdoor pool in the neighborhood. Under Armor has its HQ here at Tide Point, and UA and the Tide Point businesses are great for the neighborhood. The neighborhood is on a peninsula so there is no cross town traffic, and Locust Point has been rated the fourth safest urban neighborhood in the country. We walk to Orioles and Ravens games, there is a Farmer’s Market every weekend at the Baltimore Sailing Center (where you can learn to sail) and we walk to the Inner Harbor all the time. Access to 95 from Silo Point (or anywhere else in Locust Point) takes less than 5 minutes. Locust Point will end up being what Canton never could be because of Canton's crime and traffic, and I think it will rival Federal Hill as the most upscale urban area of the city . Mr. Turner- show off the neighborhood. Show off the convenience. Sell the "village" idea!
Posted by: Steve | April 27, 2011 5:58 AM
they are great, but the condo fees are $1,000 per month....so i passed. but, if there were a commuter rail that i could walk to that would make them worth the price.
Posted by: slinger | May 3, 2011 6:50 PM
I'm adding that area (Locust Point) to my watch list on Redfin because I'm interested in how those units will do on the secondary market.
It's one thing for a developer to command Price X for a brand new unit and quite another for an owner to try to sell their unit for that price. The developer has large lines of credit, they're charging a mark-up on materials and labor, and they can run advertising campaigns on TV, the internet, and in the Sun.
IMO, the true test of the market values of those condos will be arms lengths transactions between private individuals. This is always a problem with new construction, but moreso when there are significant condo fees involved. The developer can afford to take years to complete all sales and can afford not to drop prices too much (instead making it back in condo fees). Individual sellers have no control over condo fees and generally don't have years to make a sale.
FWIW, I still like the project from the standpoint of the city and the neighborhood. Great location, every time I see it across the water from Canton, I see exactly why they did that project there. It's just that I personally wouldn't want to be the buy a new unit in a brand new building.
Posted by: chappy10 | May 4, 2011 2:42 PM
Brilliant. I'm looking at high-end real estate marketing for a client and had never heard of this. Especially love that "sloth" relates to the concierge desk. I'll definitely share that in my concierge training.
Thanks!
Posted by: personal concierge | August 25, 2011 9:49 PM