Client Case Study

The Result Was A Full-page Article In The Denver Post

GHC Housing, a client of coauthor Stephan Spencer, was rehabbing an apartment building in downtown Denver, turning it into luxury Section 8 housing. Shortly before the grand reopening, the client asked Stephan to help them get some online press coverage (ideally with links). The first step was to find a relevant recent article in the local newspaper, The Denver Post. The article “Denver rents actually inch up as apartments rise at a near-record clip” fits the bill perfectly. It was only three weeks old at the time, so it was still fresh enough to email the journalist with a comment and for it not to seem weird. The general manager of GHC then drafted an email to send to the journalist. The first draft wouldn’t have been effective, as it read like a mini-press release; as you can see:

Denver’s rental market has matured into one of the most desirable markets in the nation for residents and investors alike. As affordability has become a greater concern for the city’s leaders and residents, a renewed concentration has been placed on meeting increased residential needs with new construction. New construction is a key component of keeping housing costs in check by helping meet demand, but a focus on maintaining the existing stock of housing at an affordable level is equally as important. This is most apparent in affordable and subsidized housing. The cost of renovating an existing affordable housing community is a fraction of the cost and time it takes to build a new residential building, and once the existing affordable housing is lost to new unaffordable redevelopment projects, it can take years to replace if and when it is actually feasible. Considering the limited resources allocated toward affordable housing development, developers and local leaders should consider placing more focus on the benefits of revitalizing our existing housing stock to help meet the community’s needs.

GHC Housing Partners (GHC) specializes in the acquisition and redevelopment of affordable housing communities across the country. GHC has acquired over 2,000 units in Colorado over the past 24 months, making it one of the largest private owners of affordable housing in the state. GHC is focused on creating the highest-quality properties, utilizing top design and construction methods to create comfortable and high-quality living environments for residents. GHC is completing renovations at six affordable Colorado housing properties this year, and it plans to complete over a dozen more in the next 24 months.

It needed to sound like it was written by a real human being, not the communications team. After some coaching from Stephan, the revised version was personal, thought-provoking, and insightful:

I read your excellent article last week about the increase in Denver rent, and I was compelled to comment. I concur that Denver’s rent keeps going up, and I think that threatens Denver’s future. But what do we do about it? There are only two market-focused ways to gain more affordability or reduce rents: increase supply and/or decrease demand. Most people don’t want to decrease demand; they want more jobs, more growth, and more economic vibrancy, hence more demand for housing and population growth. Attacking supply is also problematic, as flooding the market with new projects and easy building standards may drive down prices, but it comes at the price of smart planning and to the detriment of the existing owners and stakeholders. So, there needs to be quasi-market solutions to promote both new affordable housing and the preservation of existing affordable housing. Whether it is through bonuses to new building density or tax abatement to buildings that have an affordability component, or granting incentives for owners to keep their buildings affordable, it is important we think about this. Having a monolithic society of only a concentration of wealth is not healthy for economies; you lose diversity and creativity, not to mention a sense of empathy for those senior citizens or families who need a place to live. Diversity is a necessary and vital ingredient that makes a place like Denver so amazing. We are really proud to have recently worked with the regional Denver HUD office to preserve and rehabilitate Halcyon House in Downtown Denver and sign an affordability contract for 20 years, ensuring an affordable home for over 200 senior citizens and disabled residents for the future. However, we need as many solutions as possible to continue to keep Denver the type of place that has made it one of the top cities in the US.

Within hours, the journalist replied, saying he’d shared the comments with his colleague who covers the affordable housing beat. That colleague attended the grand reopening the following week and took photos. The result was a full-page article in The Denver Post, including a photo of the new building: “Low-Income Apartment Tower Halcyon House Unveils $7M Renovation.” That single article led to an important deal for GHC. That just goes to show that a link won’t necessarily be the biggest needle-mover for the company; sometimes, it’s the press coverage itself.

Originally published in The Art of SEO 4th edition