DETROIT, MI - With 49 units remaining at his two Detroit condo projects, Peter Cummings is taking a unique approach to selling them. Today, he's starting the advertising campaign for a one-day auction in which he'll try to sell off the remaining units at the Riverfront Condos and the Ellington.
Through the process, he's using a minimum bid of $65,000 for a one-bedroom at Riverfront and $95,000 at the Ellington. While he expects that the minimum bids will grow, he's willing to risk selling the units for half what he sold them for in past years.
"Business involves risk," Cummings said flatly. "There's a bigger risk to rely on conventional approaches. These are times that call for more unusual, aggressive approaches."
The auction is scheduled for May 9 at the Max M. Fisher Music Center. He'll be promoting it until then in conjunction with San Francisco-based Accelerated Marketing Partners. The firm has run similar auctions in other parts of the country and has been successful in moving large numbers of condos.
"Peter is prepared to sell these units for the minimum bid if he has to," said Ken Stevens, West Coast CEO of Accelerated Marketing Partners. "But in the end, we're going to let the buyers determine the price."
Cummings, chairman of Ram Development Inc., is especially eager to sell the remaining units at the Riverfront. In the last four years, he has sold 300 units, though just 38 units moved last year.
He will also donate $1,000 from the sale of each unit to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Source: CrainsDetroit.com