Marketer’s Partnership with Furniture Retailer Closes Condo Deals

Brooklyn, N.Y.–Many people have to “see it to believe it,” and for some prospective buyers at Oro in downtown Brooklyn, seeing the curved-wall condominium residences decked out by trendy upscale furniture retailer BoConcepts made them believe they could see themselves making a home in one of the architecturally unique units at the rounded glass and brick tower designed by Ismael Leyva Architects.

Oro opened its doors at 306 Gold St. just a block from Flatbush Ave. in 2008, providing 303 condos courtesy of developer United Homes of New York. The 40-story tower’s aesthetically pleasing architecture catches the eye from the street, as well as from the perspective of those who venture inside. Yet some of the building’s units can demand more imagination than the most design-savvy buyer can conjure when it comes to envisioning a unit as a home. The structure has a setback, or a step-like recession, on the 9th floor, where the terrace is located, so there are five residences above that have three curved-wall exposures instead of just one.

How does one decorate and arrange furniture in a room with convex walls?  It may be difficult for condo shoppers to picture the outcome, which is a challenge that, despite the overwhelming allure of cornerless floor-to-ceiling glass walls, is not necessarily a selling point for many.

The solution to the conundrum was to remove the necessity for visualization by creating a model apartment designed to complement the distinctive architecture found in a handful of Oro’s residences, and that is where BoConcepts came into the picture. Bringing BoConcepts onboard the marketing effort was Rose Associates’ bright idea; well, for the most part. Rose Associates Inc., the exclusive marketing and sales agent for the condo property, was motivated to join forces with the high-end furniture company by one of the most reliable sources of valuable information in any business: word of mouth.

“We heard about this being done with BoConcepts at another building so we reached out to the designer,” Edward Azria, manager of sales with Rose Associates, tells MHN. The designer is interior designer Hong Yee Leong, who works at the nearby Dumbo-area showroom of BoConcepts, a Denmark-headquartered global chain that has quite a following among fans of luxury, modern home furnishings. “We knew this was something that they did and we really like their furniture, so we had them specifically in mind. Their furniture captures the feel, the style of the units with curved glass walls.”

Leong unleashed his professional expertise on the model apartment, which would be previewed along with the original model apartment, covering every design aspect that makes a unit a home. Designed for urban spaces, the pieces chosen for the model are in harmony with the open and airy environment created by the glass walls and overall floor plan.

Rose Associates’ partnership with BoConcepts, Azria says, “did exactly what it was supposed to do.” There are five units at Oro that present the curved-wall challenge, and now all except the model are under contract—and the model appears to be next in line, given that hopeful buyers have responded well to the perfect example of what could be. The interior designer, he adds, masterminded every detail, including “the pictures on the wall, down to the stuff on the bookshelf.”

Those who snapped up one of the BoConcepts-designed units can replicate the model or have similarly-decorated digs, and the furniture retailer has taken some of the pressure off such a pursuit. The buyers can avail themselves of a $500 discount on any purchases exceeding $5,000 at BoConcepts’ showroom in Brooklyn’s artsy Dumbo neighborhood.

“If models are done well,” Azria notes,” it does make a difference,” especially when they do a really great job.”