Polaris Group, a real estate sales, marketing and consulting firm, is contracting with 6 Degrees Group to implement a smart-phone marketing campaign by deploying Microsoft’s new 2-D bar code technology, Microsoft Tag, for the penthouse release of Lennar Urban’s luxury downtown high-rise, BLU.

6 Degrees Group released a new service to industry partners in January 2010 called ITS, or Integrated Tagging Solutions, through which they pair bar-code technology with specific, customized marketing objectives for smart-phone users.

BLU is a 21-story residential tower over a single-story podium containing a retail space and residential lobby in San Francisco’s vibrant SoMa District, and it will utilize customized retail window and directional signage with tags. The frontage will feature a tag showcasing a virtual video tour of the new penthouses with narration and will be updated with a featured home of the week, plus special incentives such as a financing or homeowner video testimonials. In between these customized announcements, the tag may direct viewers to a page that includes Google GPS mapping directions to help buyers find their way from an off-site sales office to the building.

Users in the area can also snap photos of the signage with their smart phones to get the latest information at BLU before, during and after sales center hours. The custom tag will also be placed in the newspaper advertisement, allowing a multimedia dimension to a once flat ad. How does it work? When a consumer downloads the Microsoft Tag application and then snaps a picture of a Tag, the application performs an action, such as opening a Web browser and taking the user to a URL or launching an online video. Consumers simply go to gettag.mobi to download the Tag application, and then they’re ready to snap away.

Townhome project moves forward

Construction is progressing at The Residences at Palmer Square, the new luxury townhome and condominium community in the heart of downtown Princeton. The project, which is about one-third through its three-year timetable, is rising rapidly, with onsite construction cranes lifting the steel infrastructure into place. The completed development will ultimately consist of 100 homes, including 17 townhomes and 83 condominiums, in seven buildings. The pedestrian-friendly layout is highlighted by three main promenades that will integrate the development into the surrounding neighborhood by connecting Paul Robeson Place with Palmer Square. “It’s extremely gratifying to see this extraordinary development beginning to take shape,” said Jay Goldberg, head of sales at The Residences. “With the steel going up, it’s easier to get a sense not only of the quality of the construction, but also of the layout, which draws its inspiration from the pedestrian friendly courtyards and promenades of the university.”

Construction is under way on Phase 8 at Clover at Windingwalk by San Diego builder Shea Homes. Expected to be completed in time for September moveins, Phase 8 homes are now selling. Currently, just three of eight in the phase remain available for sale. Prices range from the mid $300,000s for the two- and three-story condominium homes adjacent to the neighborhood’s pool and spa. “With interest rates at historic lows, we are having great success qualifying more buyers for homes at Clover,” said Vanessa Linn, vice president of sales and marketing for Shea Homes. The four-plex condominium homes at Clover span approximately 1,579 to 1,891 square feet and have two to four bedrooms, two to three bathrooms and two-car garages.

In Florida’s year-to-year comparison for condos, 6,779 units sold statewide last month compared to 4,845 units in May 2009 for an increase of 40%, according to Florida Realtors. The statewide existing-condo median sales price last month was $98,700; in May 2009 it was $113,500 for a 13% decrease. The national median existing-condo price was $171,000 in April. A total of 877 condos sold in the MSA in May compared to 676 units sold in May 2009, for an increase of 30%. The existingcondo median price last month was $99,600; a year earlier, it was $107,500,for a decrease of 7%.

The Justice Department has filed a lawsuit against the owner, management company and former manager of Summerhill Place Apartments, a 268-unit apartment complex in Renton, WA, for violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin and familial status in the rental of apartments. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, names as defendants Summerhill Place LLC (the owner of Summerhill Place Apartments), GRAN Inc. (the management company) and Rita Lovejoy (the former on site manager). The suit alleges, among other things, that the defendants steered Indian tenants away from one of the five buildings at Summerhill, treated tenants from India less favorably than other tenants, and discouraged African Americans, Hispanics and families with children from living at Summerhill. The suit seeks monetary damages for those harmed by the defendants’ actions, civil penalties and a court order barring future discrimination.