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Case Studies...

Every real estate property is unique and has a story of its own.  Every customer is also unique and has their own individual story.  The following are case studies of how gaining insights to define who the customer is, and how they live, influences the community plan and the building of “place”.  

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Insights

Analysis

Application

Challenges + Questions to Answer

Potential challenges and key questions to answer included:

  • How can Kiawah River attract working families with children, given its location and local schools?

  • Can the community broaden its appeal outside the more traditional feeder markets?

  • Do the consumer insights  support the community as a resort, private community or combination?  If combination, how do those the community best live to attract target customers?

  • What is the recommended community life for Kiawah River and does it need to include a golf course to be successful?

  • How do we best utilize the river?

  • What are the preferred amenities and housing types?

  • What are the target prices and achievable sales pace?

Case Study 1

Kiawah River

Solutions &

Benefits

The consumer insights and analysis provided sound recommendations for Kiawah River to be developed as:

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  • A river and nature oriented private community with resort component targeting both local households as well as second home and retirement buyers from a broader market area.

  • Strong regional positioning.

  • Community design that highlights natural environment and access to nature and the water.

  • Consumer trade-offs and insights to how they live.

  • Community life focused on multiple outdoor activities.

  • Specific community village and neighborhood criteria.

  • Private versus resort amenities.
    Tapestry of various types of housing.

  • Focus on art and architecture.

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The recommended residential resort community was planned to include four different hamlets to appeal to the full-time and part-time target customers. The land plan created by VITA responded to the target customer segments and their ideal community.

Background

  • The Beach Company and Landeavor, LLC engaged Strategic Solutions Alliance to test with insights from the target customers the market analysis findings for an approximate 2,000-acre waterfront property in Charleston, South Carolina. The market analysis report included recommendations for a golf course community with river and rural villages targeting second home buyers.  

  • The property, referred as Kiawah River, is located on John’s Island across the river from Kiawah Island.  Kiawah River is enhanced by its natural amenities, including 15 miles of frontage along the river, scenic marshes and salt and freshwater wetlands, live oaks and palmettos, small lakes, adjacent equestrian and farms, proximity to the beach and location only 30 minutes from downtown Charleston. 

  • The objectives of our engagement included: 1) Defining the target customer segments – Who will live there; 2) Gaining insights into how they live (in their community and home, as a primary working family, as they retire, as they vacation/enjoy their second home and their community and housing preferences and priorities); 3) ways in which these insights define the community type, life and housing segments for Kiawah River to be successful; and 4) ways the target customers shop for homes and opinions and other marketing related.

  • Our work included community and market assessment, stakeholder and professional interviews, a MindBase™ consumer segmentation report by Kantar Futures, primary qualitative and quantitative consumer research, case study analyses of ideal community types, and synthesis and recommended action plan for positioning, planning and development of Kiawah River.

Case Study 2

Estrella

Solutions &

Benefits

Consumer findings revealed that some target customer segments would buy homes in Estrella if specific housing designs were offered. This included: 

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  • Various customer segments who had a strong preference for housing with specific uniqueness designed for how they live, not offered at that time in Estrella or the market; and

  • Customer segments with a strong desire to live differently in a more integrated neighborhood and specific community life characteristics.

  • Once the consumer findings were analyzed and discussed with the Newland-Estrella team, KTGY Architects developed some housing designs targeting Millennials, singles, Baby Boomers and other, based on the consumer research.  

  • Strategic Solutions Alliance then tested the housing designs in workshops with target customers.  

  • We worked with the Newland-Estella team and KTGY to refine the KTGY designed housing plans based on incorporation of the consumer opinions and preferences.  

  • In addition to refined housing designs, our recommendations included home pricing and builder strategies. 

Background

  • The Estrella ownership (CalPERS/IHP) and management team (Newland Real Estate Group) wanted to determine how best to target a broader segmentation of customers to increase community home sales and optimize pricing. In particular, the community ownership and management team wanted to understand why Millennials were not buying in the community and ways to attract.  

  • They retained Strategic Solutions Alliance to test the market analysis findings and hypotheses for Estrella, a 20,000-acre master-planned community in Phoenix, Arizona via consumer conversations with qualified target customers. A goal was to determine how best to target a broader segmentation of customers to increase sales and optimize pricing.

  • The consumer engagement process focused on online and in-person conversations with a broad array of qualified prospects and homebuyers by customer segment. The research focused on a deeper understanding of the customer segments, opinions of Estrella and how they live. The insights revealed product and community life actions for Estrella.

  • Once the quantitative findings were analyzed and discussed, KTGY Architects were retained to develop housing designs based on the consumer research.  SSA tested the proposed housing designs with target customers in online design workshops and in-person discussion groups.  SSA then worked with the Newland-Estrella team and KTGY to refine the KTGY designed housing based on incorporation of the consumer opinions, insights and preferences.

Challenges + Questions to Answer

Potential challenges and key questions to answer included:

  • What are the customer segments that could be attracted to Estrella?

  • How can Estrella increase home buying interest from Millennials?

  • What are the community life and housing types that might be important to increase sales and optimize pricing?

  • Challenges included Estrella’s location and distance to employment and service centers, distance from the community entrance to I-10, as well as the competitive environment and housing choices in the Phoenix market.

Case Study 3

Harmony

Solutions &

Benefits

The extensive and in-depth consumer intelligence resulted in numerous insights for Harmony.  At a high level these included:

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  • Target customers included younger consumers, including Millennials and other segments

  • Optimism about location and prospect of community with character

  • Ideal community focused on health and social aspects

  • Broader housing segmentation compared to market

  • Specific home designs and architectural character

  • Specific recommendations focused on target customer segments, community positioning, character, life and place making that appeals to the target customers. Recommendations also included mix of housing segments, design elements and prices. 

  • Driven by our research insights the client team, including tst-ink, knew Harmony must have a different point of view, one that is: 

    • ​Brave 

    • Re-defines Aurora 

    • Reflects the intrinsic values of the people who will live here 

    • Observably unique
       

Background

  • Melcor Development, LTD engaged Strategic Solutions Alliance to provide consumer intelligence and actionable insights in support of community planning, branding, and marketing and development strategies for Harmony in Denver, Colorado.  The property is in Aurora, southeast of downtown. 

  • At the time of the engagement, Harmony, a 4,000-unit planned residential community, was planned as a flagship community for Melcor to grow a platform and portfolio of residential communities in the U.S.  

  • The engagement approach included Community Assessment, Market/Consumer Intelligence​ and a Community Vision Workshop.  

  • Strategic Solutions Alliance assessed the property and market, including reviewing the market analysis.  We then conducted comprehensive primary and secondary consumer research in the local and regional feeder markets. We took insights from Kantar Futures’ MindBase™ customer segmentation, and then conducted primary quantitative and qualitative research with 1,000 qualified homebuyers, who said they were “somewhat to extremely likely” to purchase in Harmony.

Challenges + Questions to Answer

Potential challenges and key questions to answer included:

  • What are consumer opinions of Harmony’s location east of I-470 and southeast of downtown, an emerging location.

  • The market analysis report suggested there was a price ceiling to the area, and housing would feature more size than style.  What are the target customers willing to pay for a home?  Are they willing to pay a premium for higher quality community and housing design and what does that look like?

  • The client team wanted to determine whether they could attract Millennials and higher income home buyers to the community.

  • The client team wanted to determine if consumers would pay more for housing architecture and features at Harmony and trade-offs willing to make.  

  • Key questions to answer in the consumer engagement included: 

    • ​Who will live there?

    • How will they live?

Challenges + Questions to Answer

Potential challenges and key questions to answer included:

  • What is the consumer opinion of Whitney Ranch among prospects and homeowners?

  • Will Millennials, singles, higher income households, and other customer segments, including by Mindbase segment, pay a premium to live in Whitney Ranch?

    • ​Price premium

    • Lot size premium

  • ​What are the housing types and design elements important to the target customers?

  • What are the important neighborhood characteristics, community life and amenities to the target customers?

  • What are the ways in which Whitney Ranch can optimally be developed to attract specific customer segments based on who they are and how they want to live? 
     

Case Study 4

Whitney Ranch

Solutions &

Benefits

  • Quantitative and qualitative consumer research with qualified prospects revealed a strong preference for Whitney Ranch among certain customer segments should the community offer specific housing types designed for how the customers live.  

  • The consumer research revealed positive opinions among customer segments about Whitney Ranch as an aspirational community, specifically its beauty, schools, neighborhood and housing design, and community life.

  • The consumer insights and analysis provided sound recommendations for Whitney Ranch to broaden the community customer and housing segmentation.  

    • ​Who will live there?  Specific customer segments were identified through the MindBase™ report and consumer research. 

    • How will they live?  An active and engaging community life, community design elements, and specific housing design elements were described by the target customers

  • ​​The consumer research identified amenity recommendations and new housing innovations. We recommended customer-driven housing types and features based on an analysis of the customer findings, put in context with market supply.  We then met with the Whitney Ranch team and preferred builders to present and discuss the findings.  The builder workshops resulted in the introduction of new housing segments and neighborhoods in the community accelerating sales significantly.  Whitney Ranch has further elevated its market positioning as a premium community.

Background

  • Strategic Solutions Alliance has been working with IHP Capital Partners to provide customer and market insights for development, housing and marketing strategies for Whitney Ranch in Rocklin, California.  This work over a number of years has included consumer conversations with thousands of prospects and homebuyers, including with qualified prospects in the Bay Area interested in moving to Sacramento.  

  • IHP Capital Partners engaged Strategic Solutions Alliance to engage with prospective buyers about their opinions of Whitney Ranch and community and housing preferences.  

  • Whitney Ranch had been successful for several years, attracting Gen-X families to buy homes. Meanwhile, the largest consumer segments in the Roseville-Rocklin market included Millennial and Baby Boomer segments. In addition, the community development team wanted to identify ways to attract higher income and single consumers to broaden the housing segmentation and increase sales in Whitney Ranch.

  • The objectives of our engagement included: 1) Defining the target customer segments – Who will live there; 2) Gaining insights into how they live (in their community and home, housing preferences, important design elements and priorities); 3) opinions of Whitney Ranch; and 4) ways in which these insights define the community type, life and housing segments for Whitney Ranch.

  • Our work included community and market assessment, stakeholder and professional interviews, a MindBase™ consumer segmentation report by Kantar Futures, primary qualitative and quantitative consumer research, and synthesis and recommended action plans; and working with the client team to plan the community and housing segmentation.

Case Study 5

Rancho Mission Viejo

Solutions &

Benefits

The consumer insights and analysis provided insights to the visioning and planning process for the new ranch village:

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  • Insights for ways to attract and convert other customer segments.

  • Greater understanding to their purchase motivations, attitudes and values.

  • Ideal community life important to incorporate in the new ranch village.

  • Important community life and amenity preferences.

  • Neighborhood specific amenities.

  • Housing preferences by customer segment.

  • New housing types, innovation and design.

  • Greater customer insights and understanding for the homebuilders.

  • Key elements for success.

Background

  • As part of their community planning for development of the third ranch property (shown as PA3/Rienda, Rancho Mission Viejo engaged Strategic Solutions Alliance to provide consumer intelligence in support of planning, marketing and development strategies.  

  • We were asked to provide greater definition to the target customer segments for Rancho Mission Viejo and for this new community – who will they live there - and applicable description of how they will live to provide insights and recommendations for community and housing life and design.

  • We provided the voice of the customer to guide the visioning and planning process, as well as to guide development strategies. 

  • The consumer intelligence by Strategic Solutions Alliance included primary and secondary research of homebuyers, active prospects and potential prospects.  We began with a segmentation analysis of all homeowners, active homebuyers and prospects and local and regional markets using MindBase™ by Kantar Futures.  We then analyzed the differences, identified key segments and conducted consumer conversations online and in-person with approximately 1,200 of key segments in targeted areas.  

  • Our research revealed and defined the target customers (who they are and how they live) for the new community at Rancho Mission Viejo.  The consumer findings were presented to the client team and in a planning workshop led by tst ink. The consumer insights provided input for community vision, planning, lifestyle and housing segments.

  • Additionally, we presented the consumer findings to the community’s homebuilders in a charette for greater insight for housing strategies. Additionally, we discussed consumer findings and action plans for development and marketing strategies of the active neighborhoods.

Challenges + Questions to Answer

Potential challenges and key questions to answer included:

  • Access into open space.

  • Ability to attract and convert other segments and feeder markets.

  • Gain consumer insights that define the target customers (values, behaviors, motivations, family make-up, etc.) and ways the target customers really want to live (their needs, preferences, trade-offs, experiences, etc.). 

  • Provide the types of insights to the visioning and planning process that would allow the community and neighborhoods to be designed in a way that truly appeal to the target customers and differentiate the subject property in the market.  

  • Consumer ideal community and preferences for community and neighborhood characteristics.

  • Housing preferences by customer segment.

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