There's no conniving Amanda Woodward -- Heather Locklear's "Melrose Place" character -- in the building. Not yet, anyway. But residents of the Rob Clark, a new condo conversion in West Hollywood, say life there often imitates the campy '90s TV show where the overwrought dramas of successful, wildly attractive twentysomethings played out inside an L.A. apartment complex.
The 105-unit Rob Clark, which is owned and operated by New York's Athena Group, marketed itself to "the young Hollywood set" -- hipster professionals in the entertainment industry and other creative fields. And much to the credit of that effort, those are exactly the buyers it's reeling in.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 74 words Type of Material: Correction
Niche markets: An article in Sunday's Real Estate section on niche marketing said the Rob Clark condo conversion was in West Hollywood. It is in Los Angeles. The same article reported that the purchase price of a Villas at Carbon Beach condominium included membership to the Malibu Beach Inn. That potential partnership fell through; membership is not included. Also, the UCLA Anderson School of Management was misidentified as the UCLA Anderson School of Marketing.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday, June 01, 2008 Home Edition Real Estate Part K Page 12 Features Desk 2 inches; 72 words Type of Material: Correction
Niche markets: A May 25 article on niche marketing stated that the Rob Clark condo conversion is in West Hollywood. It is in Los Angeles. That same article reported that the purchase price of a Villas at Carbon Beach condominium included membership to the Malibu Beach Inn. That potential partnership fell through; membership is not included. Also, the UCLA Anderson School of Management was misidentified as the UCLA Anderson School of Marketing.
At a time when new home sales are lagging, and countless builders and developers have slashed prices or mothballed their inventories, selling a lifestyle -- not bedrooms and location -- to a narrow band seems to be paying off.
Rob Clark is a fictional character conjured up by Athena's director of sales and marketing, Harry Dubin, to model the rich 'n' free lifestyle the company is selling. "He's in his mid-30s," Dubin said. "He's single, he travels and he has incredible taste."
To bring "Mr. Clark" to life in an early model condo, Dubin scattered women's clothing around the living room and spritzed a little perfume in the air before walking prospective buyers through -- as though the cad had been "entertaining" only minutes before. The building still pays homage to the imaginary Clark with his own chair in the building's lobby, which has chic, Midcentury Modern decor.
How did Dubin zero in on his target audience? For one, he made sure the building's website was darned near impossible for tech-challenged (read: older) people to navigate. Its home page depicts the fictional office of Rob Clark; you have to be savvy enough to know that there are links hidden throughout. "I don't want someone like myself living here," deadpans Dubin, 42.
A measure of the campaign's success is that there are only 11 vacant condos after less than a year on the market -- a testament to the power of niche marketing in a down real estate market.
And Athena isn't the only company narrowing its target demographics to move units. Malibu-based Villa Development is using similar creative marketing tactics to lure buyers to its newest project, the Villas at Carbon Beach -- eight two-story town homes along Malibu's Carbon Beach stretch of Pacific Coast Highway.
