Multi-Housing News - November 2008 - (Page 34)

property showcase Modern Inspiration Madison Equities’ Chelsea sales office offers art gallery appeal to a sophisticated demographic By Erika Schnitzer, Associate Editor When prospective buyers enter the Chelsea Modern Sales + Design Gallery, they are greeted by a 4,000-sq.-ft. center that looks and feels more like an area art gallery than a traditional model apartment. “It was really about communicating the essence of the building and its surroundings,” explains Audrey Matlock, principal, Audrey Matlock Architect. To that end, the sales center incorporates a media lounge with two screens—one of the neighborhood and one of the building—as well as a materials gallery, a neighborhood hot spots wall, a building information wall, model kitchen and bathroom, and a conference and office area. Matlock fused graphics with the building’s architecture, wrapping text describing the building’s specifications and the Chelsea neighborhood around the sales center, and creating curved walls to reference the condo’s shape. She also used “building elements to define the interior space,” with 4 x 8-ft. compositions of materials lining one gallery wall. Additionally, kitchen and bath “pods” float within the space like structural elements, where prospects can walk in and around them, as one would an art installation. “We presented it as art,” asserts Andrew Harris of Madison Equities LLC. “We appreciated that Chelsea is an art gallery haven, and we wanted to mix that feeling with the building.” The primarily white space serves as a backdrop to the center’s features, in addition to maintaining the clean simplicity of Chelsea Modern, and blue text and accents highlight the color of the building. Glass was used throughout the gallery, both as office doors and as panels describing the neighborhood. These panels hang in front of the windows so that prospects can see where the property lies in relation to its surroundings. With 75 percent of the 47-unit property sold, Harris notes the importance of providing a flavor of the building without recreating it, particularly because of the target market of “someone who has a high-design aesthetic and wants to be in a relatively new area, as far as a residential enclave in New York.” MHN Chelsea Modern, New York No. of Units: 47 Unit Size: 800 to 2,835 sq. ft. Pricing: $1.35M to $4.5M Completed: July 2008 Sold: 75 percent Project Team Developer: Madison Equities LLC Architect/ Interior Designer: Audrey Matlock Architect Builder: Diamond Construction Building Enterprises Marketing/Sales: Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group Graphic Designer: Object Collective Materials (used in sales office/design gallery) Paint: Benjamin Moore Flooring: Garland Floor Co. Lighting: Lightolier, Vantage Kitchen Appliances: Sub-Zero, Viking, Miele Kitchen Faucet: Pegasus Chelsea Modern was a finalist in MHN’s 2008 Design Excellence Awards. To see a list of all winners and finalists, visit www.multi-housingnews.com/designawards. 34 November 2008 | Multi-Housing News | Producer of Multi-Housing World http://www.multi-housingnews.com/designawards

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Multi-Housing News - November 2008

Multi-Housing News - November 2008
Contents
From the Editor
Perspective: The Economy
Market Pulse
Special Report: People to Watch
Market Report: Southwest
Executive Roundtable: Dealing with the Crisis
Development & Design: TOD
Finance: Workforce Housing
Green Awards/Perspective
Sell Me: Renters Insurance
Products: Recycled Content
Solutions: Security
Property Showcase: Chelsea Modern

Multi-Housing News - November 2008