Hjarta – a new condominium community in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle.

Hjarta is located in downtown Ballard, just west of 15th on Market Street. This building was conceived during the last up market when prices were still rising. The developer, Pryde Johnson, designed Hjarta to be the best built, greenest new condominium community in the Ballard market. The building is concrete and steel construction, unusual for a mid-rise. It achieved LEED Silver certification, a first for a building that was not in a downtown Seattle high-rise setting.

By the time the building was ready for occupancy in 2008, the market had turned. The pricing these homes commanded at the start of sales was now not possible and the developer did their best to sell and market through the downturn. In early 2010 the Matrix Real Estate team was brought on to relaunch and generate sales in the slowly recovering economy.

We started by identifying the unique selling features and value proposition, then revisited price. One of our first marketing efforts was to use our strong relationship with local real estate brokers to reintroduce the property. Many brokers had seen the property two or three years earlier, but not recently. Brokers were amazed when they came in to see fresh new model homes with great merchandising and a new energetic and helpful sales team.

We then implemented a strong outreach campaign to follow up and bring prospects who had previously been through the property. The signage and website were updated, and a marketing campaign was created for prospect follow-up, broker marketing, cost-efficient advertising placements and outreach to local bloggers and media.

As a result, as the economy continued to improve, Matrix Real Estate and Pryde Johnson were able to maintain prices averaging well above the current market in Ballard and the surrounding area. In addition, Penthouse #701 was the highest condo sale in the area for nearly two years.