Village on False Creek marketers are embarking on a new communications strategy surrounding sales at the former Olympic Village.
They say they are “ecstatic” that 118 condominium sales have closed since units last went on sale in mid-February.
That’s double the original sales goal, and sales remain brisk, Rennie Marketing Systems principal Bob Rennie told Business in Vancouver April 5.
“By the time you write your article, there’ll be 20 more completed,” he said.
Rennie told BIV that he is also making a key strategic marketing change. No longer will he announce conditional sales that are subject to a seven-day rescission period.
On February 22, Rennie trumpeted 128 “conditional” sales in the current 230-unit launch. He would not reveal how many of those sales failed to complete.
“We’re no longer going to disclose conditional offers. I sold three units on Saturday [April 2]. We’re not disclosing them,” Rennie said.
“The number is 118 unconditional or closed. We will report monthly on the unconditional or closed ones.”
Rennie sold 263 of the 737 condo units in the project before the buildings were used as the athletes’ village at the 2010 Olympics.
That left 474 units, of which 230 went on sale in mid-February and 244 are being saved for a future sales launch.
Rennie continues to sell 112 unsold units from the February launch.
Despite negative news coverage about a class action lawsuit alleging shoddy workmanship, his sales success has been good enough for receiver Ernst & Young to agree to let him sell all but a handful of 110 units initially proposed to be rental housing.
Those units will form part of the future 244-unit sales launch.
“I think they rented out a handful of those units,” Rennie said. “They’ve agreed, because of the sales success, not to worry about populating condominiums with tenants. Let’s populate the condominiums with homeowners.”