What do you do if you’re a luxury-home builder and you’ve got the pool with aretractable roof and the Zen garden, but you’re not that close to a supermarket?

1. NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Food latest luxury lure
By Lore Croghan
Published on March 12, 2006
What do you do if you’re a luxury-home builder and you’ve got the pool with a
retractable roof and the Zen garden, but you’re not that close to a supermarket?
You build a room with a huge refrigerator and freezer and let people get their
FreshDirect purchases even when they’re not home — freeing them up to do their
important things during the normal two-hour window the service typically specifies for its
deliveries.
In the increasingly competitive world of luxury real estate, where there’s a citywide
surge in building, developers are pulling out all the stops to close a sale.
Indeed, in Brooklyn alone, there are currently over 1,000 units up for sale.
“Buyers are demanding more this year — and developers are pushing themselves
to give buyers exactly what they want,” said David Maundrell, president of Brooklyn
brokerage firm aptsandlofts.com.
FreshDirect fridge rooms are one of the newest weapons in the competitive battle for
homebuyers’ dollars.
FreshDirect said the builders are continuing to seek new amenities.
“Developers have been coming to us and asking us to do something special for their
buildings,” said Larry Pearl, director of business development at FreshDirect.
In properties that join the program, FreshDirect customers needn’t be home when the
tortilla-crusted tilapia and organic asparagus arrive — and they won’t be charged extra
for the convenience.
“You won’t wait for your groceries anymore — your groceries will wait for you,” said
David Behin, executive vice president of The Developers Group.
Three condo projects have already signed on to participate in the program.
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Main Office: 496 Driggs Avenue | 718.384.5304 | information@aptsandlofts.com
Sales Gallery: 171 Bedford Avenue | 718.384.4402 | sales@aptsandlofts.com

2. Two are in Brooklyn — the Aurora, at 30 Bayard St. in Williamsburg, and 133 Water
St. in DUMBO. The third is the Echelon Condominium, at 13-11 Jackson Ave. in Long
Island City, Queens.
“This is another means of differentiating our buildings,” said Behin, whose firm is the
sales agent for the three projects.
The no-wait FreshDirect service is designed to appeal to buyers of upscale condos
in nabes like these, which are short on supermarkets. The online grocer has a strong
following throughout metro New York with 250,000 customers.
In Williamsburg, condo builders are stepping up their amenities — and seeing a payoff,
by drawing buyers who initially wanted apartments in Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope,
Maundrell said.
The Aurora offers the kinds of amenities that developers are deploying in Williamsburg.
The apartments will have fancy finishes, top-name kitchen appliances and bathrooms
with sunken tubs.
There will be a 24-hour doorman, a rooftop gym with floor-to-ceiling windows and
private parking.
Builders do careful cost-benefit analysis before choosing their amenities — because
some extras require increased common charges. If they get too high, prospective
homebuyers could be turned off.
But common charges don’t have to be increased to cover electricity and maintenance
for the fridge and freezer used for the FreshDirect service, Behin said.
Buying the equipment costs a total of about $4,000, FreshDirect estimates, a tiny
fraction of the cost for a typical apartment in these buildings.
After homebuyers move in and the service starts, the FreshDirect fridge room will be
locked for security’s sake.
The doorman will open it for deliveries, and residents will get keys or access codes.
If their groceries are heavy, they can use their building’s luggage carts to take the food
to their apartments.
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Main Office: 496 Driggs Avenue | 718.384.5304 | information@aptsandlofts.com
Sales Gallery: 171 Bedford Avenue | 718.384.4402 | sales@aptsandlofts.com

3. Deliveries will come in boxes marked with recipients’ names. Behin does not expect
problems with residents taking other people’s groceries — either accidentally, or on
purpose.
He said other developers he’s discussed the service with intend to sign up — and roll
out the program in some two dozen projects over the next year and a half.
Beyond that, he expects clients to include it as an amenity in another 50 or so projects
over the next two or three years.
In all, the number of buildings that sign up will be “substantial,” predicted Pearl, without
giving a specific figure.
“It’s like all those other amenities,” said developer Ron Hershco, who’s offering the new
service at 133 Water St. and the Echelon. “If it’s something that works, you have to
include it.”
Page 3 of 3
Main Office: 496 Driggs Avenue | 718.384.5304 | information@aptsandlofts.com
Sales Gallery: 171 Bedford Avenue | 718.384.4402 | sales@aptsandlofts.com