A lot of thought went into the decisions for our locations. First and foremost, Laurian cities had to be relevant; places the community travels to on a regular basis. We looked at cities that attract the overlapping circles of tech, finance, sports, entertainment, and digital media, as they are the key cities we find ourselves in regularly for work: Austin, Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, and San Francisco. We added the places we go for a quick getaway: Palm Springs, Sonoma, the Hamptons, and Scottsdale, and those off-the-beaten-path spots we love to escape to and unplug: Aspen and O’ahu. This became the starting point.
The Real Estate team looked at historical year-over-year appreciation, comp sales, market rents, and projected growth of the area to choose the areas most likely to increase in value. They considered the tourism value, occupancy and room rates, and short term rental regulations that would affect our income-producing properties, and overlaid relocation data to see where people wanted to go, narrowing down our choices to specific neighborhoods.
The Laurian Club team focused on opportunities for engagement. Each of our cities has a high concentration of our core professional membership for cultivating business relationships, and a complementary demographic. Our cities have ample opportunities to enjoy museums, galleries, music, theater, and live performances. Laurian destinations have top professional sports teams to cheer on and everything from golf to surfing; performance driving to pickleball leagues for those who want to play. We’ve also chosen great food cities with James Beard award-winning Chefs, food trucks, and markets that offer local cuisine you can’t find outside of a few zip codes.
The Travel Concierge team provided guidance on access. All of our locations, save our ‘escapes’, are easy to get in and out of during the course of a work week, if needed. Locations have easy access to major airports, with direct commercial flights between major cities, and Fixed Base Operators for charters and jet membership companies. They have decent public transit options and ports, and reasonable drive times from hub cities.
Our list of cities will grow over time with input from our investors and market demands. We think we’re off to a great start.
