Gibsons Development - Soames Place

[Skook]

August 23, 2014 Update:

My last look at the under construction Soames Place condominium/commercial development in Gibsons was back on April 14, so an update is long overdue.

We know that except for July spring and summer sales have been more than good for the Sunshine Coast especially in Gibsons which is the hottest market with total sales (all types) up +34% compared to 2013. Attached sales in Gibsons were up +39% year-to-date compared to last year.

So, how has Soames Place where according to its website keywords “Style and Sophistication Connect…” fared since its Sales Centre opened on April 19th and four months have passed since my last update? Well, there have been some sales - three MLS sales to be exact: 1 in April and 2 in May and nothing since.

According to this weekend’s Coast Reporter Real Estate Weekly, the Soames Place Sales Centre is open daily between 2 - 4 pm and this has been the case since sometime in May. Hmmmm. Well, it’s good there are 4 agents that can rotate through the centre.

   

Hey, but what about those social marketing feeds that The Robinson Group set up for Soames Place? Well, Twitter was a bust - only two tweets were ever sent out. Ah, but surely Facebook came through, right? Not!

I think the Robinsons may have come to the conclusion that marketing a development on the Sunshine Coast via the project's own Facebook page is pure and simple a colossal waste of time. That is certainly my view unless you are willing to pay Facebook to do targeted advertising that will reach into the lower mainland; however, I bet no real estate agent on the SC will want to take on that cost. So, here is the Soames Place Facebook page below as of today and you can see that the last post was way back on June 3rd and most of those 19 "Likes" for that last post included the developer, his family and their friends plus the real estate agent and her friends and cohorts plus some local Gibsons residents and businesses - you know just the right mix that wouldn’t be the least bit interested in buying one of these condos.

The Robinson Group diligently works their Facebook page; however, a timeline perusal shows that the last Soames Place mention was back on June 3rd, too. As for The Robinson Group Twitter feed, there’s a Soames Place tweet back on March 7th. RE agents Gail Brachat and Joni Selmes (JoniandGail.com) who joined The Robinson Group at some point in marketing this project appear not to use social media (see no links on their website).

I updated the Soames Place spreadsheet and today I headed over to the Soames Place website for a final floorplan check to make sure I hadn’t missed any “Website Sold” units. Well, my golly gosh look what I found…

Now, I wonder who is responsible for this fiasco.

Well, the website was up and running a few weeks ago and nothing on the floor plans had changed since I created and posted the spreadsheet in the previous post.

So, here is the new Soames Place spreadsheet. The “Unit” column on the left now offers information according to a colour code which is explained below the spreadsheet. Two units have been set aside as social housing and despite the fact the website floorplans indicate the units as sold there is no MLS data to support that unless the buyers have signed an agreement to purchase with the Town of Gibsons. The website floorplans also indicated 4 other units as sold and it is possible they have been bought via an “Agreement to Purchase” since there is no MLS supporting data. Then there are those 3 MLS sales over the last four months…but, there is room for optimism since I find my updates seem to kick off a sale or two. Here’s hoping, SP.

Have any or all of the four commercial units on the ground level been leased? Well, that is something we will never know until the day one sees a lessee prepping the unit and eventually opening the doors for business.