Those who attended a sales event for a new condo building at 555 Massachusetts Ave. NW on Wednesday evening got the royal treatment. A line of valet parking attendants stood at the ready. Waiters in bowties served pasta hors d'oeuvres and pomegranate margaritas inside a white tent pitched at the entrance.
As the party raged on, bulldozers on an adjacent lot worked under floodlights on a competing 550-unit condo complex. The event, dubbed "Massive Party, MassHysteria," came just a week after another party at 1010 Massachusetts Ave. NW. That one featured cocktails and DJ Tom B of the Eighteenth Street Lounge and Club Five. Free upgrades to hardwood floors were offered on some units.
On Wednesday night, all the party-goers -- whether they were there for the free food or seriously looking -- had the chance to win tickets to a Washington Wizards game and gift cards to Lacoste or Rosa Mexicano restaurant. Those interested in one-bedrooms above the seventh floor were informed of a $5,000 credit, something not available at a similar sales party last fall.
So does all this help with sales?
By the host's count, the "MassHysteria" party drew 700 people. More than 120 have signed up for a sales appointment. And the winner of the $500 Lacoste gift card signed a contract that night, noted Kevin Ward, a sales manager with McWilliams Ballard, an Alexandria-based residential marketing firm that represents the project.
Those who sign a contract by tomorrow will be entered into a drawing for a Vespa scooter, Apple iBook computer or $5,000 gift certificate to hip furniture store BoConcept.
But party planners made sure everyone left a winner. On the way out, each potential buyer was handed a plastic tube of candy, stamped with the building logo.
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