Quintess, Colorado’s next brilliant launch,is the latest entrant in the emerging private residence club market. Striving to be a revolutionary way to vacation,Quintess is a luxury club that provides members, their families, and friends with access to a portfolio of multi-million-dollar, club-owned homes in the world’s most popular resort and city destinations.
Launched in November of 2003, Quintess is making a significant mark, with 10 properties in its portfolio to date, and strategic plans for the future. Quintess’s portfolio of luxury residences located in the most exclusive and desirable destinations and cities in the world including Cabo, Aspen, Miami and New York, and with offerings and luxury amenities that rival five-star resort hotels, high-profile members are taking notice.
Building a Stronger Niche
The already existent, Exclusive Resorts (another Colorado company) has gained tremendous notoriety, but Quintess is focusing on a stronger niche concept.As a part of the newly popular market of luxury Residence Clubs, Quintess focuses on more than just the “residence.” According to Len Allsup, Founder and CEO, he sees the competitive advantage clearly. “Yes, we have spectacular homes in spectacular locations. Our homes are regularly $1-1.5 million more than our competitors, but that is simply an added
|
Average Size Homes in resort areas include four to five bedrooms and average 3,000 to 4,000 square feet. City properties offer two to three bedrooms and average 1,200 to 1,500 square feet. |
Luxury Residence Clubs are a new type of country club. “We gather together those whom we love and care about and do something special,” says Allsup.“We set out to see the world, together. This sense of community is a driving force in the category and Quintess caters to that. We only choose homes and destinations that accommodate our members’ family and friends and allow them to spend quality time somewhere spectacular.”
The founders each had their own special thoughts on what would make the experience spectacular. Picking a favorite destination gets more and more challenging! “Each time I visit one of our properties, I feel that this is it, this is the best home and the best destination I’ve ever been to,” says Allsup. “I’m fickle like that, and that’s the beauty of a club like this. You don’t have to make a choice, you can visit each of our properties as often as you like.With a second home, you’re stuck with that location, but with Quintess wherever you travel, whether it’s Paris or New York or Aspen, you will have a home.You can sleep in your own home around the world.”
High Profile Investments Scouting for properties is more than just investing in a high profile residence. “With Quintess, we are not only scouting for a good investment in the property, but the whole package,” says Allsup. “We must be able to execute and provide the complete Quintess experience at each location that we choose, and that means not only do we look for a stunning home in a stunning location, but we need to be able to assimilate each member so that he or she feels like a local in a matter of hours.” Allsup believes it is important to make sure Quintess can provide the assistance and service that members expect at each of their homes. According to Allsup, they look for homes in terms of all of the things that will accommodate the experience, whether that is a magnificent wine cellar or an unbeatable view as you take your morning coffee on the terrace.
Hot Properties Changes in member preferences means changes in how clients view destinations. What makes a property “hot” is relative. “Our members are looking for mainstream destinations,” says Allsup. “They want somewhere that they can go and enjoy year-round, that isn’t just about the golfing or the skiing or the beach. Aspen, for example, is a world class city. It’s one of the most exciting places you can visit. People come here to ski, but they also come for the Jazz Fest every spring and fall, they come for the Food and Wine Classic every summer and the music concerts all summer long.” Allsup also believes Miami is essentially a beach town, but there is such a vibrant nightlife and culinary scene. Art lovers come to Miami to experience the color and creativity of the local galleries; families come for the children’s museums and water sports.“All of our destinations are chosen for their excitability, all of our destinations are hot right now,” says Allsup.
Member Profile
Quintess members are successful, busy people but Allsup recognizes their client base as people who
|
Membership Quintess offers three levels of club membership: Charter Premium $300,000 deposit and $20,000 in annual dues; Charter Affiliate $165,000 deposit and $10,500 in annual dues; Charter Group Plans $300,000–$325,000 and $20,000 in annual dues. |
Quintess memberships are limited and by invitation only, due mostly to the demand. “We keep our membership limited because we don’t want to just go out and buy homes to keep up with our membership levels,” says Allsup.
Who's Behind Quintess
Len Allsup
founder and CEO
With 25 years of business and leadership experience, Len Allsup has created and operated eight companies in the cable media and telecommunications industries that today have annual revenues in excess of $375 million. Among them, he was CEO for Jato Communications and A.G.I Management. Jato was a national DSL Service Provider, offering broadband services in 50 states with more than 1,000 central offices. A.G.I. Management was under contract with Lucent Technologies, providing turnaround expertise and statistics to telecommunication companies.
Pete Estler
founder and COO
Pete Estler is a successful entrepreneur with expertise in integrated technologies, database marketing, business development, new media and finance. He was the founding CEO of dbINTELLECT Technologies, a marketing information warehouse company with customers including General Motors, Chase, MCI, Merrill Lynch and Sprint. Within three years of operations, the company achieved more than $50 million in annual revenue. Estler was also the founding CEO of MatchLogic, an Internet advertising startup in Colorado that returned more than $1 billion in upside to investors. During his career, Estler also made investments in real estate projects on an international basis.
Ben Addoms
founder and EVP, membership development
Ben Addoms has 20 years of executive management and investment experience with private and public companies involved in online and offline marketing, direct response, database marketing, advertising and publishing. He served as president of Excite@Home’s media and marketing services, as well as managed it’s subsidiary, MatchLogic. Addoms was also vice president of Polk Co., one of the nation’s largest database marketing businesses. Addoms later diversified his investment strategy away from technology and aggressively pursued the development of real estate opportunities both inside and outside the United States.
Jim Onken
founder of Quintess and president, Monogram Real Estate
Jim Onken has a 15-year track record in real estate and resort development from concept to operations. Onken joined Intrawest, whose resort locations span the U.S. and Canada, in June 1998, as the director of development at Copper Mountain, Colo. He was later promoted to vice president of development at Copper Mountain, where he led the development of a master-planned resort village from its inception. He was also the regional vice president of development overseeing Intrawest’s Keystone, Copper, Three Peaks, and Sandestin resorts. In late 1999, he was promoted to senior vice president, adding Lake Las Vegas to his responsibilities and becoming one of only three senior vice presidents of real estate for Intrawest. In 2002, Onken became president of the private residence club division of Intrawest, where he developed the concept and started the enterprise he named Storied Places.
