LHB Communications

NoMa Business
Improvement District

Challenge: When the NoMa (North of Massachusetts Avenue) BID was launched in 2007, few people had heard of this emerging neighborhood just north of the U.S. Capitol in a former railroad yard and warehouse district. Yet major developers had committed over $1 billion in mixed-use development in that year alone.

Solution: On recommendation from one of the city’s leading developers, the BID hired LHB Communications to conduct a start-up publicity program and contribute to the BID’s marketing effort.

Results: LHB’s start-up publicity program resulted in over 75 articles published in just the first six months of operation, helping to establish NoMa as DC’s up-and-coming business and residential location. D.C. Magazine called NoMa the city’s “newest chi-chi neighborhood” and “an eco-chic oasis,” while commercial real estate industry leaders touted NoMa as the best business location among the city’s emerging neighborhoods.

Grosvenor Invesement
Management US Inc.

Challenge: When Legg Mason Real Estate Services was acquired by Grosvenor in 2006 to become part of Grosvenor Fund Management, it had about $1.5 billion in assets under management, and had never had an effective PR program. The new organization, GIM, wanted to become better known in the marketplace.

Solution: LHB Communications conducted a PR program that included publicizing GIM’s acquisitions on behalf of its national and international investors, placement of authored articles, conference bookings, and more.

Results: In the first full year of operation, 2007, LHB obtained two placements in the Wall Street Journal -- the first time ever for the 300-year-old Grosvenor organization -- as which contributed to an astounding $1.4 million worth of media coverage (based on advertising equivalency) for the year. GIM plans to more than double its assets over the next five years.

Condo Auction

Challenge: The ownership of a 325-unit condo conversion in Alexandria, VA decided to auction its remaining unsold units in November 2007 to close out a two-year marketing program. It was the first time in recent memory that a block of condos had been auctioned in the D.C. metropolitan area.

Solution: In conjunction with a marketing program by Burka Studios, LHB Communications conducted a short-term publicity program that resulted in coverage of the upcoming auction by the Washington Post (page A1), two local TV news stations, The Wall Street Journal (first page of the Personal Journal section), Washingtonian, The Examiner, The Motley Fool, Yahoo Finance, Washington Times, Smart Money, and many more media outlets and blogs.

Results: When auction day arrived, all units sold within two hours for prices well above the initial offering. The auction firm was well positioned to successfully conduct condo auctions in other markets.

Atlantic Realty
Companies

Challenge: In 1995, Atlantic was a newly formed real estate firm with a couple of small properties in Reston. The firm had purchased “the monkey building,” where ebola virus had broken out among research monkeys in the late 1980s (documented in the book The Hot Zone). The building, while safe, had deteriorated during five years of vacancy. Atlantic razed the building, developed a new one-story structure on the same footprint, and sold the building as office condominiums.

Solution: LHB Communications approached Atlantic and suggested having an event to dedicate the building, celebrating the 20 th anniversary of its largest occupant, a child care center. LHB conducted strategic publicity for the event resulting in news coverage of this low-budget project by CNN, 3 local TV stations, all local and regional newspapers, and even foreign media.

Results: This event jump-started Atlantic’s rapid growth over the next eight years. LHB continued to provide public relations services including publicity and award applications. By 2002, Atlantic had grown to be the 10 th largest developer in the Washington metropolitan region with a 6.5 million square foot portfolio and had won Greater Washington Entrepreneur of the Year Award, one of many awards and accolades.

University
Town Center

Challenge: The owner of Prince George’s Metro Center planned a mixed-use town center for his property in Hyattsville, Maryland as far back as the 1950s. The planned extension of I-95 in front of the property, however, never materialized. In the 1970s, the developer constructed three large office buildings on the site. By the 1990s, he began to revive his original plans for a town center; however, the project continued to suffer from lack of visibility.

Solution: LHB Communications publicized the project’s incubator-style Technology Growth Center during the dot-com boom, the new National Center for Health Statistics headquarters building, onsite art by Phillip Ratner, and plans for the expanded mixed-use University Town Center.

Results: LHB obtained extensive publicity for the project including several Washington Post and Washington Business Journal profiles, extensive coverage of the Technology Growth Center by the tech media, and even TV news coverage (NBC-4 and News Channel 8) of the developer’s charitable donation to Northwestern High School. The developer is now poised to move forward to the retail and residential portions of University Town Center, realizing a half-century-old dream.

Reston
Town Center

Challenge: Boston Properties and Terrabrook had achieved significant visibility and numerous awards for their Reston Town Center developments, but faced challenges in leasing four new Class A buildings following the dot-com crash that left the Dulles Corridor with a 25-30 percent office vacancy rate.

Solution: The joint venture brought LHB Communications on board to publicize the projects. LHB obtained extensive news coverage for the development and lease-up of Discovery Square (with Microsoft as lead tenant) and One and Two Freedom Square. LHB wrote and placed numerous articles and columns supporting the joint venture’s developments and impact on the community. At the same time, Boston Properties hired LHB to do additional PR work on its projects throughout the Washington, D.C. metro area. Result: By 2003, all four buildings were successfully leased up and sold.

Buchanan
Partners

Challenge: A longtime second-generation Washington metropolitan area developer, Bob Buchanan, had always abided by his mother’s adage: “Foolish names and foolish faces always appear in public places.” But by 2000, he and his partners realized that the company was missing out on important business opportunities because people didn’t know they were active in the market.

Solution: Buchanan Partners hired Leslie Braunstein as part of a team to conduct a multi-pronged marketing communications program. The public relations component of the program, bolstered by advertising and direct marketing, was particularly successful. The PR program included getting Buchanan on the Washington Business Journal’s list of largest developers; applying for and winning top NAIOP awards for recent projects; and pitching stories to reporters.

Results: Buchanan achieved extensive news media coverage and became a sought-after source by the Washington area news media covering commercial real estate. The company is experiencing much greater awareness in the marketplace as its development portfolio continues to grow.