A model unit at 7 Seventy House in Hoboken — Courtesy: Bijou Properties
By Joshua Burd
With the coronavirus crisis still escalating, two prominent New Jersey developers are now among those to offer virtual tours of their newly opened residential properties.
Bijou Properties and RPM Development announced Tuesday that they’ve created such programs, seeking to remotely accommodate prospective tenants. The builders have rolled out the platforms at 7 Seventy House, Bijou’s 424-unit luxury apartment building in Hoboken, and at RPM’s residential development at Fort Monmouth known as East Gate.
At 7 Seventy House, which Bijou developed with Intercontinental Real Estate Corp., the virtual tour program provides a complete look at the 14-story building at 700 Jackson St., including its fully furnished model apartments and roughly 90,000 square feet of amenity space. The developers and The Marketing Directors, their leasing team, commissioned the platform earlier this month after Hoboken implemented a shelter in place policy with travel restrictions and social distancing guidelines to combat coronavirus pandemic.
The tour is part of interactive presentations now being conducted by leasing agents through personal Zoom meetings, according to Bijou, which will look to maintain some of the property’s momentum. The developer announced last month that 7 Seventy House, which was designed by Marchetto Higgins Stieve Architects, was 50 percent leased after opening last fall.
In Oceanport, RPM and leasing agent CB New Homes announced revised sales procedures to assist homebuyers at the collection of luxury townhomes, duplexes and single-family dwellings known as East Gate. The community’s sales office is still open and buyers can reach a representative by phone, RPM said, noting that in-person private tours have been adjusted to comply with social distancing guidelines.
On-site visitors can access models at Officer’s Row, the final housing section at East Gate, and walk through the models at their leisure, according to a news release. RPM also said its on-site team has increased the frequency of cleanings at the models and its high-touch surfaces.
