Fifteen Group: Wyvernwood Apartments - Bilingual Community Outreach and Media Relations for a 4,400-unit Mixed-use Complex

ISSUE|;SUCCESS

Fifteen Group Land & Development LLC wanted to unveil its plans to redevelop a 1,175-unit apartment complex built in 1938 on a 70-acre site in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles. For two years, the developer worked with tenants and community stakeholders to craft a proposal that met the tenants’ needs and increased the housing stock in the community. During this time, some residents began organizing to oppose the redevelopment and were concerned about gentrification, the razing of the existing buildings and the preservation of the 70-year-old property.

Fifteen Group knew there would be media interest in the proposal and asked Consensus Inc. to develop a strategy that would:

• Allow Fifteen Group to proactively tell its story and explain the proposal’s benefits – including home ownership opportunities and neighborhood-serving retail – and its complexities.
• Ensure that tenants would hear of the proposal first-hand, before reading about it in the media.
• Position Miami-based Fifteen Group nationally for its environmentally innovative project.

ISSUE|;SUCCESS

Consensus Inc. created and implemented a media strategy to “daylight” the project to the public. The bilingual media outreach effort included: media training for Fifteen Group’s executives; local and national story pitching to newspapers, blogs and trade publications; press briefings; scheduling meetings with editorial boards; and coordinating radio and television coverage for the project.

As a result of Consensus Inc.’s efforts, the Los Angeles Times published a front-page story on the announcement the day after the tenant meeting, achieving Fifteen Group’s objective of telling its story and respecting the tenants ability to hear about the plans first from the owner. In the following weeks and months, Fifteen Group presented its proposal to reporters from the Wall Street Journal, Univision, Telemundo, ABC7, KTLA, La Opinion, Eastern Group Publications, Hoy and Globe St.

Consensus Inc. continues to perform community and media outreach activities for the project, as it moves through the City of Los Angeles’ entitlement process.