South Avenue apartments marketing leaves bad aftertaste

Plainwood Square Park sits under a pile of dirt
from Quin Sleepy Hollow construction.

The new apartments on South Avenue across from the Dairy Queen are officially to be known as Quin Sleepy Hollow.

If you read my post back in July (see here), the appliances have been installed as well as curbing for the first building. Recently, vertical banners displaying the website address (quinsleepyhollow.com) have appeared on the first building.

The remainder of the project is going gangbusters. While there was only slight evidence of progress in mid-July, most of three floors is up and work on the fourth is approaching conclusion. That's remarkable.

The first marketing story appeared in Sunday's Bergen Record (August 25). In typical marketing prose, it paints a delicious word picture of the complex and its amenities.

Donna Albanese and the merchants of Plainwood Square will be surprised to read of "a newly-constructed park just next to the community on South Avenue will be home to future cultural events and outdoor concerts."

As if Plainwood Square Park, the hard work that went into it and the cultural events that have already taken place there -- but have been disrupted by the construction -- never even took place. Ignorance...or insult?

Unfortunately, I think the marketing piece will leave a bitter aftertaste in the mouths of Plainfielders who read it, and not only for the reasons cited above.

Image of the article in Sunday's Record.
(Click to enlarge or print.)

For openers, the word "Plainfield" appears only once in the approximately 650-word piece.

(Since there is no author byline, the assumption must be it came from the developer or their PR firm, most likely printed word for word as submitted or with only very light editing.)

But this is not all. Reading through, you would think that the apartment complex is located in a community called Sleepy Hollow.

As anyone who hasn't been sleeping under a rock knows, Plainfield City Council not long ago took it upon itself to formally define the boundaries of Sleepy Hollow. Guess what. They come nowhere near this fine apartment project. (I wrote about the boundaries resolution back in February -- see here).

Which only underscores the point I made at the time that not having official boundaries was a boon to the real estate market.

But more troubling than that oversight is the dog-whistle marketing pitch that the apartment complex is "on the border of Fanwood and Scotch Plains", "...squarely situated in charming Sleepy Hollow", "...bordering Watchung and Fanwood...a short drive from popular downtown destinations such as Westfield and Cranford, home to gourmet restaurants, boutique shops and cozy cafes".

In other words, "don't worry, white people aren't far away".

After all that Mayor Mapp has done to get the ball rolling in Plainfield, this is a poke in the eye.

Plainfielders are proud of the Queen City's diversity. Not only does it NOT bother us, it's one of the reasons we love it here.

And, after just coming off a very successful Restaurant Week celebration led by the revitalized SID, the pitch for Cranford eateries is an affront.

Having more than 30 years experience as a real estate professional, I can tell you this type of marketing pitch is reminiscent of the 1980s, when Plainfield was in fact a quite different place.

However, as we are told day in and day out, all of this residential construction is pitched to Millennials (those in their 20s and 30s). That, in fact, is the justification to the state for all the investment.

We are supposed to be building "walkable" neighborhoods around the train stations -- hence Quin Sleepy Hollow.

Let me tell you what I know about Millennials: They could care a fig about how close white people are. They revel in diversity and find themselves quite at ease with a multicultural scene.

So, the developer would be well advised to check the outdated marketing pitch at the door and speak to the market about what Plainfield really offers.

That being said, you will want to keep an eye open and perhaps take a tour of the model apartments once they are open.

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  -- Dan Damon [follow]

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