NORTHERN
VIRGINIAN
NORTHERN VIRGINIA’S
TOWNHOUSES AND CONDOMINIUMS
IDYLWOOD TOWERS
A well-known figure in international real estate marketing heads what has now become the dominant force in local condominium sales. Jack P. Studnicky, president of JPS Associates, Inc., has in recent years spearheaded the sales efforts of numerous condominium projects up and down the east coast. Since April 1976, the 40 year old management consultant and specialist in sales motivational training, has headquartered his firm in Northern Virginia.
In that brief period, Mr. Studnicky has scored a major triumph at Alexandria House in Old Town. For 3 years, the waterfront project had stood at a standstill with only 31 units occupied out of 208. Within six months, Mr. Studnicky achieved his goal of a total sell-out.
Since then JPS Associates, inc., has taken on two other notable condominium projects in the area. Mr. Studnicky’s group revitalized buyer interest at the luxurious Representative in Arlington. Sales of the $65,000-$156,000 units now figure at one a day and an early April sellout is projected.
At the larger and more moderately priced Idylwood Towers condominium at Tyson’s Corner, JPS Associates, Inc., has turned around a stagnant marketing program to one that now averages a most respectable 25 sales per month.
These are only the most recent achievements of the man who is most often credited with bringing back buyers to the depressed Ocean City, Md. condominium market of a few years ago. During that time, Mr. Studnicky performed what is still considered and being talked about as his most amazing feat – 170 sales in 60 days at the 9400 ocean front condominium.
Mr. Studnicky and his group of financial consultants, professional building engineers, and marketing specialists have also successfully worked on new condominiums and condo conversions in Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Florida, New Jersey, New England, and the west coast.
For the past four years, JPS Associates, Inc. has been involved almost exclusively in condominium projects. According to its head, there is a very good reason for that. Mr. Studnicky unequivocally states that “Condominiums are the wave of the future. They already loom especially large on the residential horizon here.”
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development reports that the condominium is easily the fastest growing trend in American housing. A recent HUD study indicates that nearly half of all new residential units built for sale in 25 major metropolitan areas – including Northern Virginia – are condominiums. The federal government agency also predicts that within 20 years approximately 50 percent of the nation’s population will be living in some form of condominium housing.
Why? According to Mr. Studnicky, the reasons are simple. “First of all,” he states, “condominiums provide a luxurious and spacious home at an affordable price. Often with the accrued tax benefits of ownership this amounts to even less than what one would pay in rent for a comparable unit. There is furthermore, the advantage of building equity in your property and eventually selling it at a considerable profit. From that standpoint, condominiums should in the years ahead prove to be excellent investments.”
Mr. Studnicky also points to the current and in all probability continuing energy crisis as a factor in the condominiums’ favor. “Condos,” he notes, “are usually built close-into a metropolitan area and therefore convenient to work, shopping, entertainment, and religious activities. They cut down on the amount of driving one has to do and – in addition – make more efficient use of energy resources than an equal number of detached dwellings. Increased security is also a major consideration in their favor.”
All of these factors are leading more and more Northern Virginians to look into condominiums. What they are finding is in many cases not at all what they had expected. Condos such as Mr. Studnicky’s Idylwood Towers and The Representative feature better construction and financing plans than the average new detached home. In addition, they include amenities which few owners could on their own afford, such as tennis courts, swimming pools, saunas, exercise rooms plus a dynamic social atmosphere.
“For years, condo was considered a four-letter word,” says Mr. Studnicky. “Only recently have people stopped thinking of condominiums as the least of many housing evils. Today – thanks to many sophisticated buyers – the condominium has almost completely lost its negative image. It is simply regarded – and I believe rightly so – for what it is – a darn good way of living well economically!”
(JACK P. STUDNICKY is the dynamic young president of JPS Associates, Inc. – the area’s leader in condominium sales.)
