Gemini. Mon Reve. Powerful Mountain. No, these aren’t the names of a James Bond movie, an expensive perfume or a yoga pose. They are luxury properties that are currently for sale.
While naming the most expensive and notable homes is nothing new—think Elvis’s Graceland or Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater—recently, this phenomenon has become more widespread for both historic home resales and new developments across the globe. Sometimes, a property’s name is simply chosen for romantic reasons, other times it’s to relay important information about the home, connote exclusivity or wealth, or elicit an emotion and kick off a marketing campaign.
All of these reasons make sense, said Allen Adamson, founder of New York-based Brand Central Consulting. "A name is a shortcut to a story," Mr. Adamson said, "and probably the most important part of branding."
But getting a name right is a real challenge, he continued. "You need to find a name that is yours—that is pronounceable, evocative, memorable and communicates something relevant about the property," he said. "If you get it right, you’re all the way down at the 50-yard line when it comes to marketing a property."
Suzanne Perkins, a realtor with Sotheby’s International Realty who represents luxury properties in Santa Barbara County, Calif., agrees, and said that she has seen firsthand just how sticky names can be. Representing a portion of the famed El Mirador Estate in Santa Barbara—El Mirador being Spanish for "The Viewpoint—Ms. Perkins said everyone in town knows the property by its name, and would stare at her blankly if she called it by its address.
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The same is true for Sycamore Valley Ranch, located in a Los Olivos canyon. It was named that because at the time of its building in 1982, the area was chock full of sycamore trees. It was renamed Neverland Ranch by Michael Jackson for the fantasy island in J.M. Barrie’s "Peter Pan" after he bought it in late ‘80s, and is now listed at $100 million with its original moniker. Whether it’s Sycamore Valley Ranch or Neverland Ranch, "everyone knows it by name," Ms. Perkins said, and knows the property’s backstory.
Presenting buyers with properties listed by their name instead of their address or reference number has worked well for Edward de Mallet Morgan, a partner on Knight Frank’s international residential team. "Rather than say, ‘I have this fantastic property in Barbados at 25 Beachside Road,’ I would say, ‘I’ve got this lovely beachside property in St. James and it’s called Gardenia,’" he said. "People remember Gardenia, and might think of wonderful, lush gardens, which is exactly what it has."
But while many of these names are historic and were chosen for reasons related back to the property, market-influenced naming, "where value and target market are very much at the forefront of getting a name right from the start" has become much more prevalent, said Simon Barry, the head of new development at London-based Harrods Estates.
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Mr. Barry believes this trend may have started in the late ‘90s in London, when a lot of overseas money came into the city, and people were all of a sudden demanding luxury apartment buildings that didn’t previously exist. Developers latched onto this opportunity, he said, and bought up office buildings or land in previously undesirable neighborhoods, which they re-branded to up these properties’ prestige and appeal.
Developments like The Bromptons, The Phillimores and The Lancasters played up the area’s heritage; buildings like Montevetro (loosely translated from Italian to mean "mountain of glass") and Canaletto (named after the famous Venetian painter, because the building’s curvy façade recalled waves in his paintings) went for exotic appeal; and the world’s most expensive luxury building, named One Hyde Park, started a trend of naming properties "one this or one that," Mr. Barry said—"names make you think it’s the most important."
This "one" phenomenon has now gone global. There’s One57 in Manhattan (at 157 W. 57th St.) and "The One" in Bel Air, a still under-development mountaintop mega mansion, which is being advertised as having a $500 million price tag. "There’s never going to be a property called "The Two," Mr. Adamson said.
Properties named for fashion brands like the Giorgio Armani residences in the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, or the Versace residences in the AYKAN London One attract a lot of attention from Middle East and Far East buyers, Mr. Barry said. Properties named for other luxury brands, like the Ritz-Carlton Residences, Miami Beach, can hold a similar appeal.
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But while expensive properties are named around the world, there is one outlier that’s mostly —although not entirely—immune to this phenomenon: Manhattan, and specifically Manhattan townhouses. "With the exclusion of a very few properties on the Upper East Side, it’s not so New York-y to find cache in the name of a place," said Rick Pretsfelder, a partner at real estate firm Leslie J. Garfield & Co. "It’s really about the address."
But that address still tells a story, Mr. Pretsfelder continued, and clues buyers into whether they’ll be by Central Park, or in a prime Greenwich Village or West Village location. And in some cases, as with 432 Park Avenue—known by many as just 432—or 15 Central Park West, "the address, if it’s a great one, is the brand."
Here’s a look at other news from around the world compiled by Mansion Global:
Chinese Investors Are Betting big on Australian Infrastructure
China’s sovereign wealth fund, CIC capital, is pouring billions of dollars into Australian infrastructure assets, particularly in the realm of real estate. The move is part of a heightened Chinese interest in Australian investment, as well as larger efforts to acquire a variety of international ports, and includes a $9.7 billion deal for a 50-year lease over Melbourne port. (Construction.Ru)
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China’s ‘Luxury Flat Testers’ Might Have the Best Job Ever
Developers and property managers of luxury properties in China are hiring people to take their upscale apartment buildings for a test-drive, to the tune of as much as 20,000 yuan (nearly US$3,000) per month. Duties include keeping a detailed journal of their daily experiences in the apartment, which developers can study for potential improvements and prospective buyers can read to help decide whether or not to go through with a purchase. "I’ll be making notes on everything, from the layout of the residential units, the quality of the environment at the project, the service standards of the property manager, facilities, and even the neighbors," one tester told China News Service. (ejinsight)
The Dursley House From the ‘Harry Potter’ Movies is Up for Sale
Though it doesn’t appear to include a cupboard beneath the stairs, the house that starred as the home of Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon in the "Harry Potter" films is now for sale, to the tune of £475,000 (about US$620,000), a significant step up from its last sale price of £290,000 back in 2010. The modest three-bedroom, two-bathroom home is located in Bracknell, Berkshire (with a direct train commute to London’s Waterloo station), and features a new patio in the backyard garden. (The Telegraph)
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Luxury Condos are Rising in San Francisco To cater to Wealthy Techies
In spite of its booming real estate market, San Francisco has long lagged behind other major cities when it comes to new development housing stock for luxury buyers. But a new flood of projects is aiming to change that, and with ultra-luxe amenities like helipads and infinity pools, is already garnering some of the highest prices in the city. "Manhattan, London and Miami have had these kinds of properties for years, so we’re just catching up," says Dilan Urun, director of sales at 181 Fremont Residences, where prices range from $2 million to $20 million. Unlike other major cities, though, these projects are catering to local tech wealth, as opposed to foreign investment. (Forbes)
British Columbia Brings In a "Watchdog" To Shepherd Its Wild Real Estate Market
The B.C. government in Canada is taking another step to get the province’s overheated real estate market in check, and has appointed a new official to the newly-created position of "superintendent of real estate." The move follows the implementation of a 15% foreign buyer tax, as well as increased penalties for real estate licensee misconduct and investigation into the practice of "shadow flipping." The new superintendent, Michael Noseworthy, has previously worked as a regulator and public sector leader, and said in a statement, "I look forward to drawing upon my experiences as both a regulator and a lawyer with experience in real estate and administrative law to serve the interests of British Columbia’s real estate consumers by working swiftly to implement the reforms initiated by the government." (Global News)
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In the Luxury Property Market Post-Brexit, London’s Loss is Dubai’s Gain
Some luxury buyers seem to be easing out of the London market in favor of Dubai, per a new report from Savills, an international property adviser. Though buyers are hardly abandoning London properties entirely, many are looking to diversify their portfolios, and per the report, values on those British homes are likely to be down by 9% by the end of 2016, but are expected to stabilize over the next two years. "There remains a strong preference for London properties in the long-term as the city is still considered by most as a safe haven, even on the back of Brexit. Nevertheless, we have seen some Middle East investors looking to re-allocate a part of their portfolio to other geographical areas, due to the uncertainty in the mid-term that Brexit has triggered," an executive for Savills’ UAE branch explains. (The National)
U.S. Construction Projects Could Be Poised for a Surge in 2017
A strong sales market, combined with unusually low rates of new construction projects breaking ground in 2016, could mean that the U.S. market will soon see a major uptick in so-called housing starts (a.k.a. the number of new residential construction projects). According to new analysis from Neil Dutta, the head of U.S. economics at Renaissance Macro Research, housing starts for 2016 have dropped to an annualized rate of 722,000, compared to 765,000 in 2015, in spite of solid economic indicators and relatively brisk demand. "The last time the ratio of starts to new home sales was this low, starts ended up surging for the next year," says Mr. Dutta. (Bloomberg)
Miami is Getting a High-End Condo Building Just For Cars
In a bid to entice the city’s luxury car collectors, a pair of Miami developers are launching AutoHouse, a luxury, 45-unit car storage facility with a high-end "Collectors Club" on-site. Units in the building will cost between $350,000 to over $1.5 million, with the option to add extras including wet-bars, stereo and TV systems, and the like. The building’s social club, located on the top floor, will feature private dining and board rooms, lounges, and a "Formula 1 simulator," and owners will be able to access their cars 24 hours a day via secured lobby, which includes car elevators. (LLNYC)