Also: Agencies, EAH Housing Union Bank work together to preserve Rohlffs Manor; Queen of the Valley has a 'Mega Heart'; Calistoga Ranch has record 2010 sales
The Napa Valley Destination Council’s iPhone application, Visit Napa Valley, received platinum honors from the Adrian Awards, a prestigious designation in the marketing and public relations industry.
The platinum awards were selected as the best among a field of 154 gold competition winners. The application, developed with Orlando-based Ypartnership, was part of a broad plan to develop new web and mobile advertising strategies as a means of attracting an increasingly important demographic, Clay Gregory, CEO of the Destination Council, told a Business Journal audience at last year’s Impact Napa conference.
The application features an online visitor guide, a searchable winery guide, GPS-enabled maps and access to exclusive offers, among other options. Android and iPad applications are scheduled to be released soon.
The awards are hosted annually in New York by the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International.
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After working together for more than a decade to keep Rohlffs Manor, a senior living facility in Napa affordable, EAH Housing and Lutheran Care for the Aging is celebrating the future of this community.
“By purchasing Rohlffs Manor, EAH Housing has ensured that a valuable community resource will stay in Napa, allowing future generations of seniors to age in place. Lutheran Care for the Aging did a wonderful job of building this community over the course of many decades, and EAH is honored to assume its stewardship,” said Mary Murtagh, president and chief executive officer of EAH.
EAH Housing was hired to manage Rohlffs in 2001, and began working closely with original owners, Rohlffs Memorial Manor, an affiliate of Lutheran Care for the Aging, to acquire the property in 2007. The global recession caused a few setbacks, but EAH worked with Union Bank, The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the California Housing and Community Development Department, and the Housing Authority of the City of Napa to piece together the $24.3 million needed to purchase, renovate, and most importantly, preserve this housing community.
“Union Bank is proud to be part of the future of Rohlffs Manor. At a time when other investors were backing away from important projects like this, we stepped up and deepened our financial commitment to EAH Housing to revitalize Rohlffs. Our partnership will help ensure that thousands of older adults will be able to live comfortably in a vibrant community for decades to come,” said Annette Billingsley, senior vice president of community development finance at Union Bank
The property’s 355 units are spread out over 15 acres in the heart of the Napa Valley.
Now that renovations are complete, many of the property’s apartments feature new roofs, remodeled kitchens with energy efficient appliances, redesigned common areas, and improved fire and emergency call systems. Additionally, the number of fully accessible handicapped apartments on the property has doubled. Despite all the improvements, rents will remain affordable for low income older adults. The property has studio, one and two bedroom units which range from $450 to $855 per month.
“Many of the residents at Rohlffs survive just on a single Social Security check. It can be very hard, if not impossible, to find quality housing in the Bay Area when living on a fixed income. Thankfully EAH and the city of Napa were able to work together to ensure that older adults will continue to have affordable housing options in Napa,” said Napa Mayor Jill Techel.
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[caption id="attachment_29760" align="alignright" width="360" caption="MegaHeart will be hosted by Queen of the Valley Medical Center"][/caption]
On Feb. 18th, Queen of the Valley Medical Center will host the world’s only portable, inflatable, walk-through heart exhibit on the hospital’s front lawn. The MEGA Heart provides visitors with a unique, highly interactive educational experience about heart disease.
Visitors will be step inside the human heart, learn about cardiovascular functions, observe examples of various types of heart disease, and see displays explaining some of the latest medical treatments for heart problems.
The heart is approximately 21 feet long by 15 feet wide by 12 feet high. Visitors enter the exhibit through the largest vein that feeds the heart, the superior vena cava, and exit through the largest artery that leaves the heart, the aorta.
“The MEGA Heart is a big part of our ongoing American Heart Month celebration,” said Jaime Peñaherrera, director of marketing, communications and public relations at Queen of the Valley Medical Center. “We hope that lots of Napa kids and their parents will come out and take advantage of this remarkable and entertaining learning opportunity.”
The tour is free and is appropriate for visitors of all ages. The exhibit will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Feb. 18th, on the front lawn of Queen of the Valley Medical Center.
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The developer of Napa Valley's residences at the Calistoga Ranch, an Auberge Resorts location and home to the signature Vintner Program, announced more sales were closed in 2010 than in the past two years combined.
"We are thrilled by the sales success of 2010 and fully expect to see continued growth in 2011," said Coni Thornburg, general manager of Calistoga ranch. "We are seeing confidence in the marketplace and in the established Auberge Resorts brand. Buyers want to invest in quality, which is a hallmark of this Auberge property. We attribute our success to several key factors, including our private up-valley setting, our Vintner Program, unique signature events, world-class amenities, true authenticity, and our developers' commitment that the property is 100% complete and debt free. These factors, in conjunction with the known quality of the Auberge brand, make The Lodges at Calistoga Ranch one of the most desirable real estate opportunities in Napa Valley."
Programs such as the Vintner Member Program, offering owners access to a select group of winemaking families and wineries in the region, as well as more than 100 signature events a year are an added draw for buyers.
Owners at Calistoga Ranch are also allowed access to miles of hiking trails in the thousand mile preserve surrounding the ranch.
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