Today’s lineup fiasco at X2’s Broker Launch took me back to 2007/2008. I remember paid teenagers lining up in the dead of winter for the launch of Aura at College Park.  I took a close look at one chap sitting on a foldout chair outside the Aura College Park sales centre last winter, bundled up in about 3 layers of clothing, a thick scarf, a set of gloves, and a sleeping bag.  X2’s fiasco may or may not cause problems for the project itself, but it most definitely does make for a great marketing ploy that developers should not be encouraging!!

Developers should follow the lead of Urban Capital at River City in the West Donlands area and try to manage the situation a little better by putting together a lottery system that allows people to submit worksheets on behalf of their clients and then called in to sign contracts if they end up being drawn from a bunch of other names.  Easier said than done since the favouritism can never really be eliminated but most definitely worth a try.  Just goes to show, it’s who you know as well as what you know.  The guys at Urban Capital and Milbourne are hopefully successful at the lottery system and hopefully that could be the way things are done in this business.  I must say that this is not the first time I have been privy to the lottery system to keep people happy.  Centro in Scarborough did something very similar when they launched.  A fully organized team is most definitely helpful in achieving optimal results.

Anyway, back to the point that I am trying to make.  Why the sudden surge in activity over the past 6 months?  I KNOW BUT I DON’T KNOW.  I KNOW NOW BUT I DIDN’T EVER DREAM IT WOULD BE.  I MOST DEFINITELY NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD BE OF THIS MAGNITUDE.  October 2008 to April 2009 was all quiet on the western front.  Pindrop silence type of quiet.  And then all of a sudden a Tsunami of buyers woke the development community.