You first made a name for yourself back in 2008 with the 100K House, which cast your firm, Postgreen Homes, as a leader in the green space. The firm has now gone on to to create eight other projects, proving there’s market demand, yet few options exist for price-conscious buyers who value well-designed green properties. What prevents other developers from making innovative homes for price conscious buyers?
The short answer is that what we do at Postgreen is just a lot of work. It’s very difficult to bring high design/performance homes to average price point buyers. There are just a lot of much easier ways to make a living in this business… In 2008 I wanted to be a developer only. In order to make Postgreen work I needed to become a builder, a LEED expert, a knowledgeable building science chap, train myself in the Passiv Haus standard and learn how to value engineer every plan received from our design professionals. There are many easier ways to make a buck in real estate.
Bringing well-designed interiors to folks who are either looking to buy or looking for short-term stays seems like a fairly linear path. It probably didn’t feel that way at first. What’s been the most difficult part in entering the hospitality space?
The two hardest things have been convincing people that we were actually building a hospitality product and that we could operate it on a daily basis. With 10 years of real estate under our belt, I did not expect these difficulties. We look forward to having 3+ years of operations in the hospitality game under documented and behind us now so future endeavors are easier.
Philadelphia has been on the rise over the last 10 years, which presents a lot of opportunity, but also the challenges that come with a city in transition. How would you describe the experience of launching a business in Philadelphia?
I’ve really enjoyed launching a business in Philly. Mainly because of the people, but also because everything is fairly accessible. The people are nicer than many give them credit for and there is a ton of talent to work with. The process is getting harder now, but when we started we did all of the permitting ourselves. It’s still possible and much easier and cheaper than other major cities. Most of the time.
As a new business starting out, with a novel concept no less, what forms of marketing have proven to be the most effective in getting people interested in the Stay Lokal concept?
In general, social media. I have to give a lot of credit to my pal, Nic Darling, who is a partner in Postgreen and led our marketing for years. He used to tell people that the secret of our marketing success was to “Do what you like and then talk about it a lot.” We did that on the 100K House blog at first and then we moved to Twitter and now it’s all mainly Instagram. The formula remains the same though.
The experience at A-Frame is almost like a showroom for up and coming brands like Article, Parachute, United by Blue and Peg & Awl. It seems like a great strategy for brands that are looking to get physical goods in customer’s hands. What’s been the response for the brands you’ve partnered with?
The brands we’ve worked with have been extremely supportive and collaborative. Our guest have responded well to them also. Many recognize them and those that don’t find a new company to support. We love working with small and local makers most of all, but we also strategically chose direct to consumer companies for the larger goods that people could go home and purchase for their own homes.
Your commitment to content creation surrounding your projects is impressive. Can you talk about how you’ve been able to accomplish that, and the benefits it’s provided in getting your work talked about?
I don’t sleep a lot… It’s been very helpful, but mostly it’s been great to meet a lot of new talented people that all enjoy supporting each other. I’m very much a “rising tides” kinda guy. To a fault maybe.
Hindsight is 20/20. Do you have any advice for someone who may be considering getting into the boutique hospitality space? What’s the one thing you wish you could go back and tell yourself as you were first starting out?
I’d probably say start with something small enough that you are very passionate about and doesn’t stretch you too much financially or emotionally. Do stretch yourself creatively though… Someone recently told me most hospitality brands are started by the uber wealthy looking for something fun to do with their extra cash. That ain’t us…
The best new brands are the ones that are either flipping things on their head and taking a traditional product or service and coming at it from a completely new perspective, or just simply honing their craft and taking something traditional and doing it really well. Are there any startups or brands you’ve admired, and think we should be keeping an eye on?
For Lokal Hotel, I point to VIVOOD Landscape Hotel in Spain, Ace Hotel (the startup version) and Urban Cowboy BnB in Brooklyn & Nashville. I could write a pamphlet on the others, but these are the top 3.
You’ve always been a bit of a risk taker. Whether it was leaving your engineering job and starting Postgreen or experimenting with new ideas like the Lokal A-Frame project, it seems like you’re constantly pushing yourself to try new things. What’s next on the list?
Besides custom Ford Bronco restorations? The honest answer is my family is next. I’m gonna try to not buy anything for a year and focus on them and trying to let the next idea flow organically in through that process of hopefully less stress and busywork. But, I am starting to look into helping others build some really nice single family homes in Jersey that check all the boxes in my head. I also hope to pursue product collaborations through our partners in Lokal. And I’d like to build that 250cc beach tracker that’s been lodged in a crevice in my brain for a few years. And maybe some custom furniture. I’m really bad at woodworking, but I enjoy it.
Finally, tell us one thing you’ve really been enjoying lately — is there a book, movie, or album that you think is a ‘can’t miss’?
I’ve really enjoyed re-connecting with my pal Joey Sweeney lately, riffing on branding ideas and listening to his new album — Catholic School. Lot’s of good there. I’ve also been binge watching Anthony Bourdain and Grand Designs which allows me to laugh at other idiots like me across the world that think they can do more than they are capable of.
Thanks so much to Chad Ludeman for taking the time to jot down his thoughts. If you’d like to stay connected to Stay Lokal or book a stay at one of their locations, use the handy dandy links below:
Interested in being part of this series? Contact us at hello@thisisarmor.com
