North Hill, the senior living community located on the Wellesley/Needham town line, has been named a finalist for five National Association of Home Builders "Best of 50+ Housing" Awards. The awards reflect North Hill's progress with the Project True North Initiative.
On January 23, North Hill will receive either Silver or Gold in the following five categories:
* Best Repositioned/Remodeled Community on the Boards
- The True North initiative involves: the addition of a brand new building with 45 luxury residences; the expansion, enhancement or addition of nearly a dozen amenities; new indoor and outdoor dining options; the complete re-design of 270 independent living apartments; a reimagined model of health care through a new "resident-focused small-house" Health Center; and a philosophy of outstanding opportunities for PurposeFULL Living
- The project team includes: JSA Architects of Portsmouth, N.H.; interior designer Wellesley Design Consultants of Methuen, Mass.; Stonetrust Partners of Canton, Conn.; Compass8 of Boston; and marketing agency Creating Results, with offices in Virginia and R.I.
* Best Online Marketing Strategy
- An integrated approach that included: a completely a re-designed main website as well as a sister site focused on the initiative search engine optimization; blogging; online advertising; social media marketing; and email marketing
* Best Integrated Marketing Strategy
- "Discover True North," the campaign launching the True North initiative, included direct mail, online and offline advertising, email, public relations and special events (the first of which attracted more than 400 attendees and caused a traffic jam on the Needham/Wellesley town line)
* Best Sales/Marketing Event
An exclusive event launching The Summit Club, a priority deposit program for North Hill's new luxury apartments, was attended by 125 prospects and generated 12 deposits at the event
* Best Brochure
- A package with a flexible design that communicated the vision of True North, provided details about residences currently available and allowed new specifics to be added as the project evolved.
"We are truly honored by this national recognition of North Hill's efforts to transform senior living in the greater Boston area," said Kevin Burke, CEO of North Hill Communities Inc. "All the members of our community — partners, residents and team members — deserve credit for their creativity, dedication to and passion for Project True North."
In making the announcement, the NAHB called the entries from North Hill and other finalists "competitive and attractive projects for the 50+ market." NAHB 50+ Housing council chairman Don Whyte said, "This year's finalists showed us how important it is to incorporate features and amenities that fit the lifestyle of the buyers and residents of their properties."
The Best of 50+ Housing awards are the industry's highest honor. Details on this year's competition can be found at http://www.nahb.org/news_details.aspx?newsID=15620.