The annual Downtown Lifestyle Tour in Wilmington, NC (est. pop. 106,476), has been offered for the past five years. The goal is to, “introduce people to the unique housing options that downtown offers and to promote how great it can be to live here,” says Wilmington Downtown, Inc.
The tour is one effort within the larger long-term economic development strategy to increase the number of downtown residents who will patronize city center businesses, restaurants, and attractions.
“This approach is now paying dividends and downtown’s residential base is expanding,” says Ed Wolverton, president and CEO of Wilmington Downtown.
Unfortunately, in recent years the organization has had difficulty finding people willing to do the work of preparing their homes for the tour.
“Last year we tried something different,” Wolverton tells Downtown Promotion Reporter, “We worked with our Regional Association of Realtors, and asked if brokers would use this event as a downtown-wide open house. That worked out quite well.”
Downtown Wilmington cements its relationship with local realtors with an information session and reception the evening before the tour and with the Downtown Top Producer of the Year Award.
The award recognizes the realtor that had the highest volume of real estate transactions closed within the greater downtown area during the period of December 1 through November 30.
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