How to Make Your Master Planned Community a Destination

Every day, we have the privilege of partnering with master planned community developers to create beautiful places. Collectively, we set out to make these communities stand as somewhere more than great places to live. Our goal is to turn them into destinations.

Getting there requires an initial and sustained understanding that a destination is both a stunning physical space and a brand built to connect with an audience on an emotional level. It's less "build it, and they will come" and more "build it, brand it, and they will come."

We operate predominately within the latter, where we help establish identity, find unique positioning, and send messages that resonate.

But as we mentioned, destinations are physical and emotional – tangible and intangible. So, while we love to polish the intangibles, true destination communities cover both.

So today, while we think about branding, we invite you to think about building. Here are some of the best physical features of a true master-planned community destination:

Walkability

As societal trends step in and out of prominence, they often sway the tide on what residents find most attractive in a community. Walkability is at the crossroads of a couple of these trends.

Most clearly, is the continuing rise of health and wellness. People spend a promising amount of time and energy taking care of themselves. Of course, dedicated fitness and wellness amenities will most directly supply this demand, but walking space is how a community can fully round out its efforts for self-betterment. It fills a gap in an overall healthy lifestyle.

Because between workouts at the gym and 60-minute yoga classes, people understand and seek out the health benefits of a simple walk outside. Having trails or pathways that offer this, especially in a thoughtful and visually rewarding way, is something that won’t go unappreciated.

Walkability also implies connectivity, and connectivity is a trend working its way onto the short list of homebuyer must-haves. Retail, dining, and grocery within walking distance are a massive value-add and contribute strongly to making a community a sought-after destination. The more residents can handle life's daily demands and desires without having to get in the car, the better. Every community has a "walk around the block." How does yours feel?

Wellness

Often developers take wellness beyond the community gym and walking trails and incorporate more opportunities to live a healthier lifestyle. This is as simple as finding ways to get people out of cars and into social settings. They allow residents to make healthy choices easier with connectivity to walking trails, workout facilities, spas and pools. But going beyond that, developers can add a community garden where residents can grow vegetables and flowers.

Explore how developers are positioning communities around wellness. We worked with Nona Cove in Central Florida to help differentiate the community with a focus on self-care and wellness.

Nona Cove is positioned as a place of “new wellness” - a holistic state of health. New wellness is something residents pursue intentionally. Milesbrand created a cohesive branding strategy to imagine what an apartment residence can offer. Nona Cove’s positioning as a wellness community is simple. It focuses on self-care and loving yourself, choosing to build a life you don’t need to escape from regularly.

Experiences

Finding differentiation through product will always be worthwhile for master-planned community developers. Most audiences respond well to their choice of a well-designed home and an equally impressive community. These efforts, and many more, help overcome the real estate industry’s looming perception as somewhat generic and unimaginative.

That said, a beautiful community – on its own – still leaves experiences within that community to be desired. In theater, as a loose analogy, the goal of set design is to support the performance. In communities, experiences are the performance.

And they can range in both frequency and scale, from regular and undemanding – such as fitness classes and happy hours – to semi-annual community-wide events, complete with food trucks, live music, and outdoor games. With experiences, the options border on endless, and we encourage you to get creative.

But no matter the experiences you offer, the effort sends an important signal to your audience: You are aware of and committed to the overall customer experience. Home builders and developers specifically focus on the post-purchase customer experience.

Now, despite customer experience (CX) taking the all-too-familiar shape of a buzzword, many brands still fail to dissect and optimize theirs. And most fail in similar ways with their post-purchase customer experience.

If you pay attention to both, you’ll be among brands who understand that authentic destinations offer more than good living in pretty places. They provide interesting things to do – and under it all – they offer their residents stories to tell.

Note: People are in a hurry to share the interesting things they do. Give them the opportunity, and they will market on your behalf.

Master Planned Community Amenities

Not all amenity-rich communities stand out, but all stand-out communities are amenity-rich.

While events and experiences have impact, residents want access to useful, entertaining, and convenient things to do regularly.

At scale, amenities become destinations and drive the sense of purpose for the entire community. They continually remind residents that they made the right decision and send out a message of livelihood to undecided buyers. The community with the most popular pool in town? That community becomes the place to be. The community with beautiful parks and gathering space? That becomes the destination. Scenic trails, polished fitness centers, dog parks and lounges? Same story.

To an increasingly loud call, amenities are the proper response. They promise, “Everything you need is all right here. There is nothing to miss out on in this place – you are living at the heart of what's happening."

Town Centers

More and more communities are embracing TND (true neighborhood development) and incorporating a mix of residential and retail spaces into communities. Residents love TND because they can walk to town for coffee, a glass of wine or dinner.

Town centers provide community residents with all the amenities they need close to home. These mixed-use communities are often anchored by retail, offering restaurants, a coffee shop, entertainment and medical facilities. Residents love TND because they can walk to town for a coffee, glass of wine or dinner.

Ave Maria in Florida is a perfect example of a community with a town center. We worked with the developers to brand Ave Maria as “A Big Kind of Small Town.” The heart of Ave Maria is its Town Center and Main Street District, comprised of a plethora of retail shops, lots of places to eat, financial services, medical facilities and more. Residents embrace the ability to walk to this bustling area to shop, socialize or grab a sandwich.

Design and Aesthetics

Great design, as an overarching theme, is a complement to every other community feature. Because the goal is not simply to offer walkability, experiences, and amenities – it’s to pair those with compelling aesthetics.

The fact is a destination has to look the part. We know people want to do exciting things – but they want to do them in interesting places. And with high standards, the importance of placemaking through design can't be overstated. The destination must feel like the destination.

And the reach of good design can extend to almost every part of your community – no area is off limits. Thoughtful design can transform homes, walking space, pools, parks, and gyms from customary to remarkable.

Of course, destinations are remarkable. But this is not an accident – they are distinctive by design.

And often, design is fueled by the community's brand. With an early focus on branding, the parameters are set for every design aspect down the road.

This is one of many reasons we put the brand ahead of everything else. If you're ready to start improving your brand, take a look at our 10 Step Guide to Real Estate Branding.