| FEBRUARY
1, 2007
A Portland area residential builder
has come up with an innovative way to underline its
commitment to green building and to finish off sales
at some of its successful neighborhoods.
During February, Renaissance Homes
will include a new hard-to-get Mercedes Smart Car with
sales of move-in-ready homes at some of its Portland,
Southwest Washington and Bend neighborhoods, a $26,000
value, according to company president Randy Sebastian.
“Since the Mercedes Smart Car
gets an average of 50 miles to the gallon or more and
its emissions rank with the Toyota Prius, this seemed
a great way to emphasize our commitment to green building
as well as a way to draw attention to some finished
homes spread throughout some of our most popular neighborhoods,”
Sebastian said.
Portland/Southwest Washington area
homes in the program run from 2,520 square feet with
four bedrooms, 2.5 baths to 4,457 square feet with five
bedrooms and three baths. Prices range from $544,900
to $812,900.
Homes are scattered throughout Renaissance’s
neighborhoods “making them hard to pinpoint in
advertising. This seemed like a great way to call attention
to them as a grouping, rather than having to promote
each one separately,” said Kim Whitman, Renaissance
vice president of sales, who developed the program in
conjunction with Lake Oswego’s Oswego Luxury,
currently Oregon’s only Mercedes Smart Car dealer.
Oregon Luxury’s Charles Seaman described the Mercedes
Smart Car as “the most endearing, fun-to-drive,
environmentally friendly and safe micro-car on the planet.”
The small Mercedes, which weighs 1580
pounds and features a rear mounted .7 liter, three cylinder
turbo engine, “is actually is greener than the
hybrids because there is no issue with disposal of the
hybrid’s battery pack, which lasts about five
years.”
Smart Cars, which are manufactured
in the Mercedes Benz plant in France, are the result
of a collaboration between Swatch and Mercedes and have
sold more than 880,000 in Europe since 1998. They’re
entry into the US market is recent, but Seaman, one
of a handful of US dealers so far, said the car gets
eight or 10 test drives daily and draws a crowd whenever
he drives one.
Swatch approached Mercedes with the
idea, which includes removable body panels. For about
$1,500, the car can change colors or be a combination
of several colors.
Renaissance will unveil the program
with an advertising program proclaiming “You get
more in Renaissance Home: built green, and 50 miles
per gallon” and will have a local ad on the Super
Bowl. Plans also call for display of the unusual looking
cars on weekends at select neighborhoods where there
are homes eligible for the program.
Kicking off the program Feb. 3-4, Renaissance
will display the Mercedes Smart Cars at model homes
at Sherwood’s Richen Park, on Sunset Blvd; Tukwila
Golf Estates at the Oregon Golf Association Golf Course,
Boones Ferry Rd. south of I-5 exit 278; at Salmon Creek,
north of 144th Ave on 29th Ave. in Vancouver, and in
Wilsonville’s Canyon Creek, on Canyon Creek Rd.
Off Boeckman Rd. “We thought the Mercedes image
was a natural fit with our homes which are the top of
the line in the production home field. We were particularly
taken with the opportunity to underscore our commitment
to green building,” Whitman said.
All Renaissance homes in the metropolitan
area are built to the firm’s “Living Green”
standards, a series of green building and energy efficiency
systems it has been including in its homes for more
than four years. Renaissance was the metropolitan area’s
first major builder to commit to total green building.
Metropolitan area communities with
Smart Car homes include Canyon Creek in Wilsonville;
Eagle Landing in Happy Valley, Salmon Creek in Vancouver,
Renaissance Pointe I and Renaissance Pointe III in Beaverton,
Renaissance Summit in Camas, Richen Park in Sherwood,
Tofte Farms in Canby and Tukwila on the Oregon Golf
Association Golf Course just north of Woodburn.
Renaissance Homes
16771 Boones Ferry Road
Lake Oswego, Oregon 97035
Voice: 503-636-5600
Fax: 503-635-8400
Emergency Service: 503-496-0711 or 866-567-6225
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