Innovative, determined marketing sees the 52-unit, 77,400 sq. ft. project through the challenges of the Great Recession of 2008-2009
San Jose, Calif., June 8, 2011 – When Borelli Investment Company acquired an REO (bank-owned) two, building, two-story, 77,400 sq. ft. R&D/manufacturing complex located on Junction Avenue near the Trimble Road exit on I-880 back in 2005, creating an office condo complex seemed simple enough. But with the deepest recession in more than three-quarters of a century lurking right around the corner, there would be nothing simple about the Junction Office Center story.
With $10 million in debt and equity funding raised from an investment group, the project started as expected.
Borelli completely renovated the two buildings, converting them into high-quality office condos ranging from 750 to 3,000 sq. ft. The refurbishing included stunning glass lines with 48 new window openings, new roofs, new heating and air conditioning units, extensive landscaping, awning covered entrances to formal lobbies, completely redone interiors, large multi-stalled restrooms, an on-site fitness facility, common conference room, all the necessary ADA improvements, and well-appointed suites with carpeting, finished walls and coffee bars.
“Our first office condo sales closed just before the end of the year,” said Ralph Borelli, company chairman. “The following two years were also strong, so that by the end of 2007, we only had 15 or so units left.”
Responding to the Recession
But off course, the recession arrived in 2008. Borelli responded with innovative marketing programs designed to maintain forward momentum, even if dramatically slowed. Marketing included a creative mix of traditional media – brochures, postcards, newsletters, and print ads – together with “new” media such as a project-specific micro-web site, e-mail blasts, a lighthearted informational blog that attracted a steady following, and TEAM Junction – a business-acceleration group run by a certified chairperson from Vistage International, known as the leading organization for CEOs in the world. It took awhile and required adjusting condo sales prices to conform to new market realities, but sales inched forward. The final sale of a 1,943 sq. ft. unit closed in May – approximately 5 1/2 years after the first sale.
“Many other developers might have walked away from Junction Office Center,” Borelli remarked. “We take our responsibilities seriously – both to our investors and to the condo owners – to finish the project the way it was intended. While the returns to investors were obviously scaled back somewhat, with hard work, we brought the project to a successful completion.”
For information about other office condo opportunities through Borelli in Silicon Valley, contact Anna Mcquillan Rose, at anna@borelli.com, or call (408) 770-1205.
