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03-13-2006, 11:14 AM | #1 |
YT 6000 Club Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 6,238
| [News] Buy a Condo, Get a Free Puppy STAMFORD, CT -- Buyers at the posh Highgrove condominiums planned for downtown can expect country club amenities such as private elevators, personal wine cellars, valet parking and concierge service. And doggone it, as part of a new promotion, some of the priciest units come with man's best friend. Highgrove is giving away a puppy of choice, plus an obedience class, to anyone who buys one of two townhouse units starting at $2.3 million. The other 89 units are BYOP -- bring your own pooch -- but Highgrove is marketing the entire 18-story building to animal lovers by featuring a 2-year-old Jack Russell terrier named Daisy in its latest ad campaign. The ad shows the dog in the master bedroom, watching her owner get glammed up for a night at the symphony. The building allows owners to have up to two dogs, as long as each weighs less than 85 pounds. Jessica Rohm, Daisy's real-life owner and managing director of the Sunshine Group, the New York City firm marketing for Highgrove, said pet lovers are an important segment of the market because so few apartment buildings and condo complexes in downtown Stamford allow animals. Buildings that do allow pets may charge additional fees or limit it to cats. "We had a woman buying here because she said she couldn't find a rental building that would allow her dog," Rohm said. Highgrove officials do not expect to make sales on the puppy promotion alone but said the gimmick promotes a dog-friendly image. "Nobody's going to buy it because they get a free puppy, but they like it," Rohm said. She's crossing her fingers that no one requests a rare breed or the offspring of a show dog. About 75 percent of Highgrove buyers to date are pet owners, and many wouldn't consider moving somewhere Fluffy or Fido wasn't wanted. Sixty-five percent of the luxury high-rise units, which start at $1.4 million, are sold. The building is scheduled for occupancy in fall 2007. "Almost everybody here has a dog because they are single professionals and empty-nesters who don't have children, and if you don't have children, dogs are the best substitutes," Rohm said. For Mary Jo Winterer, who's trading in her house in the Cranbury section of Norwalk for a sixth-floor unit at Highgrove, any building that wouldn't allow her 11-year-old Italian Greyhound, Tessa, was out of the question. "The dog had to be part of the picture, that's a given," said Winterer, a credit card company executive. "My husband died in 2004 so she's what's left of my family. I have no children." Tessa shouldn't bother the neighbors below because she's getting on in dog years and prefers to lounge most of the day on a pillow, Winterer said. "Even if this dog doesn't make it, I'm going to get another one," she said. "I've had a dog my whole life, so it was very important to me." The personal climate-controlled wine cellar and the Manhattan penthouse lifestyle were other selling points, Winterer said. Another buyer, a 31-year-old entrepreneur from the Shippan section of Stamford, is moving in with his two Chihuahuas, Laverne and Shirley. Some prospective buyers brought their pets to the model unit at 992 Summer St., including a Greenwich couple who visited several times with their Yorkshire terrier, Snuggles. Highgrove is one of two high-end downtown properties trying to appeal to pet owners. The Classic, an apartment building going condo on Forest Street, also marketed by the Sunshine Group, plans to open a puppy park above the parking garage later this year. Plans call for a "Yappy Hour" on Fridays, when dog owners can sip cocktails while their four-legged friends frolic and chomp on biscuits. Rohm got the idea from another property her company was marketing last year on Manhattan's Upper East Side. It has a gated puppy park on the fifth-floor terrace with obstacles that resemble modern art sculpture and a rubber-coated surface that's easy on paws. The puppy park hasn't drawn many dog owners to the building at 205 E. 59th St., but it has piqued curiosity, said Kathryn Bezella, director of sales. "It's something very New York," Bezella said. "It's like straight out of 'Sex and the City' to have a puppy park." The Stamford version is expected to have grass. "We're doing the suburban, glamorous version," Rohm said. In Stamford, The Classic plans to subcontract a dog-walking service that would offer a discount in the building. Anarene Barr and her husband, Bill, are considering buying at The Classic when they're ready to downsize from their four-bedroom colonial in North Stamford, in part because Hopkins, their 7-year-old Maltese-Yorkshire terrier mix, is welcome. "In a lot of the what I would call middle-to-upscale buildings that are convenient to downtown, they do not allow pets," said Barr, a real estate agent with Prudential in Stamford. "I hate that because I wouldn't think of moving to my next place without him." The Barrs considered two other Stamford buildings, but one allows only cats and the other doesn't allow pets of any kind. "I think this dog thing is a really big deal. People love their dogs," Rohm said. "People just love their dogs." Rohm, who lives in Greenwich, has two dogs, including Daisy, and two cats, two ferrets and two birds. Some New York City buildings are adding pet spas to amenities that include health clubs, saunas and indoor swimming polls. Gladstein Development Group LLC opened a building in SoHo 18 months ago that has a pet grooming facility in the basement. Residents can bathe their pets in special tubs with harnesses or bring in a professional doggy stylist. "We came up with the idea to be a pet-friendly building because there are so few in New York," said the developer, Jane Gladstein. One Carnegie Hill, a hybrid condominium and apartment building going up on Manhattan's Upper East Side, is slated to have a pet grooming salon when it opens later this year. Amir Korangy, publisher of "The Real Deal," a trade magazine for the New York City real estate market, said he's noticing more luxury condominiums using star power to attract top brokers and buyers as the market gets more competitive. Last week, Grammy Award-winning singer Seal performed at an open house for the Avery, a high-rise condominium building on Manhattan's West Side. "They were trying to get Sting, but he wasn't ready to sell out that big," Korangy said. But so far, he said he hasn't seen a free puppy promotion, not even in the Big Apple. http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news...ocal-headlines |
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