Luxury Simplified: A Look Back On 2016
There's nothing better than the clean slate of a new year and the opportunity to wonder what lies ahead. Sure, there are plenty of things already "penciled in" on the 2017 calendar - the mundane, like doctor's appointments, tax deadlines, and even the exciting event or two, like a wedding or a beach vacation. But it's all the other pages, still blank, that leads one to muse about how the year ahead will unfold. And in the end, the year fills up with that perfect blend of the routine and the unexpected. That's why we are already feeling a bit nostalgic and why we are taking a look back on 2016 and some of the exciting things that happened here at 95 Broad Street throughout the past year.
February brought the announcement that the Luxury Simplified marketing department was nominated for 3 "2016 Spark Awards" by the American Marketing Association - Charleston Chapter. This was a high achievement for our in-house marketing team to be nominated alongside some of Charleston's top marketing firms. Nominated in categories that included, "Best Corporate Blog," "Best Non-Traditional Marketing," and "Best Inbound Marketing."
March brought the evening of the Spark Awards celebration and the excitement of actually being awarded the AMA Spark Award for "Best Inbound Marketing." Way to go, Marketing team!
In late April we attended the Charter Day celebration of Historic Charleston Foundation where our Principal, Chris Leigh-Jones was awarded the Robert N.S. and Patti Foos Whitelaw Founders Award for Preservation. This prestigious award was established to recognize those citizens whose work embodies the spirit of achievement and high expectations that were the highlight of the Whitelaw’s, dedicated efforts to preserve Charleston’s streetscapes, neighborhoods, and public buildings. The distinguished list of past recipients makes this award all the more special, and the recognition for restoration work we did on the Gadsden House all the more meaningful. Take a look for yourself and watch the Gadsden House documentary HERE.
By June we were hard at work behind the scenes of a planned re-design of the Luxury Simplified website. Our goal was ambitious, but achievable - to design a website with a sleek, modern feel; that offered up rich, interesting content about Charleston SC; with an easy, intuitive real estate search function; and a way to save and build a search portfolio for our website visitors. Rolling out a new website is a big project on it's own, but our lofty goals to deliver a top notch user experience made it doubly so.
In late July the new website launched to a lot of "high-fiving" around the office and a flurry of "thank you" and "Congrats" emails from our clients ... and our family and friends, who understood the number of manpower hours that went into it!
August brought the addition of 9 new agents to the Luxury Simplified Real Estate team, a reflection of the continued growth and success of our real estate company. This dynamic group includes some top agents who specialize in all areas of Charleston including the historic downtown neighborhoods, Mt. Pleasant, Daniel Island, and Johns Island.
In late September the real estate team partnered with South of Broad Living Magazine for the South of Broad Block Party and spent a fun-filled afternoon hosting a wine tasting booth and getting to know the families in this iconic neighborhood.
In October a Hurricane named "Matthew" made landfall near Charleston and came ashore with the blustery winds and rain of a Category 1. Matthew's arrival at low-tide meant Charleston was spared the worst of it and most on our team suffered only minor damage (or no damage at all) to their homes.
By early November Luxury Simplified Construction finished it's Eco House project in Elliotborough and proved that with a true "think outside-the-box" commitment to building efficiently and a creative infill land-use solution, it is possible to bring affordable housing to the peninsula.
And, by year's end, Luxury Simplified Retreats had added 9 new properties to it's portfolio of luxury vacation rentals. From a family friendly beauty at Folly Beach, to a sleek urban getaway on Todd Street in Elliotborough, they are representing an array of luxury rentals all around the Charleston peninsula and out to the island beaches - and have amassed loads of 5-star ratings from clients along the way. Have a look at their website and see for yourself!
NOTE: As we say "Goodbye" to 2016 and "Hello" to 2017 we continue to count our blessings and are thankful for the clients and the friendships we have made along the way. It was a busy and deeply fulfilling year, and we can't wait to see what's on the horizon for our growing company in 2017 ... Happy New Year!
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