demand for dedicated residential communities mod- elled on destination spas – that is, with extensive daily spa, fitness and medical programming in addi- tion to a full range of amenities. “I think that’s a challenging model,” she says. “It is the ultimate for people who are core spa-goers, but unfortunately I just don’t think it pencils out in the long run.” Yet while Gary Milner, vice-president of develop-
As for the cancellation of the Bethesda and Chi-
Canyon Ranch Living Miami is attracting about 100 sales leads a week, which is around a three-fold increase from early 2009
ment for Canyon Ranch, acknowledges that the last few years have not been easy, he is surprisingly sanguine about the strength of the Canyon Ranch Living model. “We launched in Miami in Novem- ber 2008, two months aſter the failure of Lehmann Brothers, the project’s financial partners. What happened in ’08 was devastating on a macro level to virtually everyone in the US real estate market, so we couldn’t have launched at a harder time. But what’s happened since is that buyer confidence has improved.” As a result, Canyon Ranch Living Miami – which already has 60
per cent of close to 600 units sold, and more under contract – is see- ing “the best sales traffic and activity we’ve seen in a long time,” says Milner. “Right now we’re seeing about 100 prospects a week, which is maybe a three- or four-fold increase from early ’09.”
SPA BUSINESS 1 2011 ©Cybertrek 2011
cago developments, Milner simply blames the collapse of the real estate market, saying: “We were the victims of the world’s worst timing on those projects, definitely… I really believe if they had come to the market six months or nine months earlier, they would have sold out.” So why was Canyon Ranch Living Miami able
to weather the economic downturn when Miraval Living was not? Miraval declined to speak to Spa Business about this issue, but according to a report in the New York Times, Miraval executives said the developer had repeatedly missed payments and not com- plied with the terms of its contract, while James W Sheehan, the project manager, said troubling delays with the opening of the spa led the developer to end the partnership and look for a new operator (which it found in American Leisure). At that time, it was reported that fewer than half the 365 units had been sold since the building went on the market in 2007. Part of the trouble with Miraval, believes Ellis, was that in addi-
tion to the incredibly difficult economic climate it was launched in, the property was beleaguered with city zoning restrictions that
Read Spa Business online
spabusiness.com / digital 31
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84