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DISRUPTIVE MIXED-USE HIGH-RISE APARTMENT COMMUNITY RESPONDS TO THE DEMAND OF YOUNG PROFESSIONALS

DISRUPTIVE MIXED-USE HIGH-RISE APARTMENT COMMUNITY RESPONDS TO THE DEMAND OF YOUNG PROFESSIONALS

Suburban Detroit-based City Club Apartments, a 100-year-old mixed-use multifamily pioneer, broke ground today on its newest community—City Club Apartments—Central Business District (CBD) Minneapolis. Mayor Jacob Frey, Councilwoman Lisa Goodman and City Club Apartments Chairman and CEO Jonathan Holtzman were among the speakers at the event celebrating the mixed-use apartment, penthouse and furnished short-term community which was held at Orchestra Hall overlooking the construction site.
    
"We are excited to be formally breaking ground today on this disruptive community with Mayor Frey, Councilwoman Goodman and the City of Minneapolis,” said Holtzman. “We have been actively building and managing great communities in Minneapolis for nearly two decades and continue to be inspired with the City’s leadership, vision and future. Our development team pioneered urban apartment development and redevelopment in Minneapolis.  We have built or renovated ten mid-rise, high-rise, new construction and historic conversions since 2000.  This is an outstanding location and historical site with direct access to ‘everything’ Minneapolis.  We are responding to the demand of young professionals for uncompromising quality and market leading amenities and services at affordable rental rates in the CBD. This simply does not exist in the market today and we are thrilled to be delivering it.”
    
Located in the heart of the CBD on 10th Street between Marquette Ave. and Nicollet Ave., City Club Apartments—CBD Minneapolis’ stunning new 17-story high-rise will feature 307 apartments and penthouses.  City Club Apartments is also preserving the adjacent 1907 Handicraft Building, and converting the historic Guild Assembly Hall which will be a 3,500-square-feet two-story restaurant/bar, entertainment and event space with a year-round outdoor entertainment patio.  
    
“We are celebrating the building’s great history while creating some of our own with a dynamic new space featuring 100-year-old wood trusses, soaring 30 foot ceilings and a European inspired green corridor and expansive entertainment patio connecting our restaurant and community to the City.” said Holtzman. “Everything we do is focused on experiential, connectivity and hospitality. As one simple example, our restaurant will have a dog menu. We are thinking 24/7 about how people want to live, entertain and interact within our community as well as their work, culture and play needs when they walk out the door.  We are creating spaces and places where people want to be, and this community will be reflective of that thinking and execution.”
    
From a 17th floor contemporary cabin-inspired Sky Club with gourmet kitchen, club style seating, big screen TVs and fireplace where residents can host private dinners, entertain or connect with their neighbors, to a Sky Park with an outdoor pool, spa and movie theater, City Club Apartments—CBD Minneapolis will offer the amenities and services of a 5-star hotel with the very best of urban living and lifestyle.  The community’s Bark Park will invite pet owners to schedule play dates. The community’s list of amenities and services also includes sexy bathrooms, 24/7 concierge and social programing, business and conference center, wellness and exercise rooms and the integration of advanced and high-speed fiber technology.  
    
“With Minneapolis’ excellent public transportation options, our proximity to the Skyway, access to bike share, Uber, Lyft and other rideshare options, the advancement of autonomous vehicles and evolving attitudes to vehicle ownership, our community will have minimal parking,” said Holtzman. “It’s another example of how we think and execute differently.”
    
City Club Apartment and Penthouse communities, which focus on green building and social responsibility management techniques and processes, feature four distinct finish packages and CCA branded products and are located in prime neighborhoods with great access to public transportation, arts and culture, parks and trails, sporting venues, retail, restaurants, and entertainment and central business districts.
    
Prior to launching CCA in early 2016, Jonathan served as chairman, CEO and 50 percent owner of Village Green Holdings, a 50-year-old, $4.5 billion apartment company that evolved from a mixed-use development company founded by his grandfather Joseph Holtzman in 1919.  In July 2016, Jonathan announced he had sold his interest in Village Green’s operating companies to Dallas-based Compatriot Capital and entered into a partnership with Canadian developer and investor, Alan Greenberg. While he sold his shares in the management company, Jonathan retained his ownership of approximately 10,000 apartments in 30 communities with a combined real estate value exceeding $2 billion. Jonathan and Alan also have $500 million of new communities in various stages of development, construction and lease-up in downtown Cincinnati, Detroit, Kansas City, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Chicago and plans for the East Coast. Holtzman and Greenberg plan to start three new communities each year. CCA will complete the management transfer of its entire portfolio from Village Green to City Club Management in 2018.
 
Construction on City Club Apartments CBD Minneapolis began in September with pre-leasing scheduled to begin in fall of 2018. The first residents are expected to begin moving into the community in spring of 2019 with a completion target of summer 2019. To learn more or register your interest please visit: cityclubapartments.com
City Club Apartments, LLC Selects Spherexx.com as Advertising Agency

City Club Apartments, LLC Selects Spherexx.com as Advertising Agency

In starting a new brand, Jonathan Holtzman hired a consultant to determine who in the United States had the best website capabilities that included mobile optimization and creative. After examination, it was determined that Spherexx was the best and continues to be the best. He selected Spherexx.com®, led by Becca Wilson CEO, to provide Internet marketing, branding and web innovation for City Club Apartments, LLC.

 

City Club is a 100-year-old forward thinking multifamily housing brand according to Mr. Holtzman, Co-partner, who sold Village Green Holding as CEO and Co-owner in 2016. Village Green is a third-party, multifamily management company. City Club’s philosophy merges generations of management, development and ownership expertise, commitment to customer service and mixed-use communities.

 

“Becca offers a unique perspective and insight into our brand of customer service, having hands-on property management experience prior to starting Spherexx in 2000,” states Mr. Holtzman.

 

City Club currently manages ten apartment communities with three mixed-use projects under development. The corporate website recently launched at http://www.CityClubApartments.comfeatures what they currently manage, what is under development and construction, commercial space offerings, company news, media, and awards. With many of the 75 million baby boomers returning to cities from the suburbs, City Club offers the type of service that appeals to this broad demographic, along with Generations X, Y, and millennials, young professionals, and affluent metropolitan dwellers.

 

“Go to  CCA CBD Cincinnati website,” says Mr. Holtzman. “I think it’s the best apartment community website I have ever seen. It has exciting elements like the amenity driven search feature; it has video, mapping, vibrant architectural renderings and 3D floor plans: all accessible from desktop or mobile.”

Mr. Holtzman is especially interested in providing a boutique hotel-type lifestyle that provides many choices of design, amenities, services and views.  City Club offers apartments with a choice of four finishes in addition to flooring, size, type and location. The website creates a premier “Build Your Own Living Space” program created especially for City Club. The customer can select preferences from a long list of finishes, locations and price ranges. It filters with the selected preferences along with pricing and availability. City Club management can detect website visitors’ shopping engagement to determine what items are most popular.

 

CityClubApartments.com offers extensive editing flexibility that does not require computer proficiency.  All content can be easily updated. The corporate intranet shares administrative information to all designated users. Special options include blog, applications for residency, news releases and training modules. Communities can change website banners, update neighborhood locations, photos, FAQs, amenities and unit features, along with a long list of detailed information.

 

Spherexx has also created a custom, web-based Help Desk application for City Club. The program streamlines problem solving with a ticket system that tracks requests for help with their accounting program and software or hardware issues. It also addresses many other operational issues like requesting training support. It funnels “tickets” into a central dashboard that allows users to follow resolutions and review reports that identify specific, troublesome areas that need special attention.

 

Spherexx-built ILoveLeasing.com® (a customer relationship management [CRM] software designed specifically for the apartment industry) determines statistical intelligence that identifies their target market and what advertising is reaching that market and what is not. Source attribution and lead segmentation are critical factors in establishing successful advertising investments that focus budget dollars for the best outcome.  The software includes an interactive digital brochure that reflects City Club’s attention to detail, mixed-use environment and customer service. Each lead can be addressed by telephone, email, or text from desktop, laptop, tablet, or mobile phone through I Love Leasing’s mobile companion application. It also includes advertising budget feasibility reports and a sophisticated price quoting feature that integrates with accounting software.

 

Management staff members are equipped with streamlined follow-up and scheduling features in I Love Leasing along with plugin options such as Adkast syndication, which publishes pricing and content updates for multiple digital advertisements at one time from one dashboard. They also use a Spherexx-developed tablet application called LeasingBook whereby a customer can lease an apartment on the spot with no need to return to an office location. It is available in both Apple® and Microsoft® versions, and it integrates with ILoveLeasing.com for optimum leasing performance. 

 

All Spherexx related services are provided inside a single sign-on service called SweetSpot Dashboard. This dashboard requires City Club users to remember only ONE login and password to access everything that Spherexx provides along with other third-party tools since SweetSpot serves as a password locker for third-party party software.

 

 

Spherexx assists City Club with new business development presentations and investor reporting. The company also provides City Club’s organic search engine strategies and pay per click advertisements.