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Main Office: 496 Driggs Avenue | 718.384.5304 | [email protected] Sales Gallery: 171 Bedford Avenue | 718.384.4402 | [email protected]
NEW YORK DAILY NEWSFood latest luxury lure By Lore Croghan Published on March 12, 2006
What do you do if you’re a luxury-home builder and you’ve got the pool with a retractable roof and the Zen garden, but you’re not that close to a supermarket?You build a room with a huge refrigerator and freezer and let people get their FreshDirect purchases even when they’re not home — freeing them up to do their important things during the normal two-hour window the service typically specifies for its deliveries.
In the increasingly competitive world of luxury real estate, where there’s a citywide surge in building, developers are pulling out all the stops to close a sale.
Indeed, in Brooklyn alone, there are currently over 1,000 units up for sale.
“Buyers are demanding more this year — and developers are pushing themselves to give buyers exactly what they want,” said David Maundrell, president of Brooklyn brokerage firm aptsandlofts.com.
FreshDirect fridge rooms are one of the newest weapons in the competitive battle for homebuyers’ dollars.
FreshDirect said the builders are continuing to seek new amenities.
“Developers have been coming to us and asking us to do something special for their buildings,” said Larry Pearl, director of business development at FreshDirect.
In properties that join the program, FreshDirect customers needn’t be home when the tortilla-crusted tilapia and organic asparagus arrive — and they won’t be charged extra for the convenience.
“You won’t wait for your groceries anymore — your groceries will wait for you,” said David Behin, executive vice president of The Developers Group.
Three condo projects have already signed on to participate in the program.
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Main Office: 496 Driggs Avenue | 718.384.5304 | [email protected] Sales Gallery: 171 Bedford Avenue | 718.384.4402 | [email protected]
Two are in Brooklyn — the Aurora, at 30 Bayard St. in Williamsburg, and 133 Water St. in DUMBO. The third is the Echelon Condominium, at 13-11 Jackson Ave. in Long Island City, Queens.
“This is another means of differentiating our buildings,” said Behin, whose firm is the sales agent for the three projects.
The no-wait FreshDirect service is designed to appeal to buyers of upscale condos in nabes like these, which are short on supermarkets. The online grocer has a strong following throughout metro New York with 250,000 customers.
In Williamsburg, condo builders are stepping up their amenities — and seeing a payoff, by drawing buyers who initially wanted apartments in Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope, Maundrell said.
The Aurora offers the kinds of amenities that developers are deploying in Williamsburg. The apartments will have fancy finishes, top-name kitchen appliances and bathrooms with sunken tubs.
There will be a 24-hour doorman, a rooftop gym with floor-to-ceiling windows and private parking.
Builders do careful cost-benefit analysis before choosing their amenities — because some extras require increased common charges. If they get too high, prospective homebuyers could be turned off.
But common charges don’t have to be increased to cover electricity and maintenance for the fridge and freezer used for the FreshDirect service, Behin said.
Buying the equipment costs a total of about $4,000, FreshDirect estimates, a tiny fraction of the cost for a typical apartment in these buildings.
After homebuyers move in and the service starts, the FreshDirect fridge room will be locked for security’s sake.
The doorman will open it for deliveries, and residents will get keys or access codes.
If their groceries are heavy, they can use their building’s luggage carts to take the food to their apartments.
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Deliveries will come in boxes marked with recipients’ names. Behin does not expect problems with residents taking other people’s groceries — either accidentally, or on purpose.
He said other developers he’s discussed the service with intend to sign up — and roll out the program in some two dozen projects over the next year and a half.
Beyond that, he expects clients to include it as an amenity in another 50 or so projects over the next two or three years.
In all, the number of buildings that sign up will be “substantial,” predicted Pearl, without giving a specific figure.
“It’s like all those other amenities,” said developer Ron Hershco, who’s offering the new service at 133 Water St. and the Echelon. “If it’s something that works, you have to include it.”
Main Office: 496 Driggs Avenue | 718.384.5304 | [email protected] Sales Gallery: 171 Bedford Avenue | 718.384.4402 | [email protected]
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