Liberty Lorton – Elm Street Development
Beekeeper Group was charged with working with Elm Street Development and Fairfax County joined forces in a public-private partnership to convert the former reformatory in Lorton, Virginia into an adaptive reuse development and community that includes housing and retail. The adaptive reuse development now renamed Liberty is on the National Register of Historic Places. The property was known for its dark past in the bedroom suburb and ultimately not known as a destination. Beekeeper Group was charged with changing the perception of the property and surrounding area.
The communications strategy was to develop an online presence that would showcase life at Liberty as aspirational. Beekeeper Group created an integrated campaign with branding, media relations, social media, and email outreach. From there, event programming was produced to activate online community members to engage with onsite experiences. Specific efforts to support this goal include:
- Craft messaging and branding for the property to serve a more positive and future-looking narrative
- Develop a website with space for leasing information, community events, and updates in the form of a monthly blog and email newsletter
- Hold events such as bunny meditation, goat yoga, outdoor movie nights, glow-in-the-dark yoga, and an annual Turkey Trot
- Draft, distribute, and pitch monthly media statements around upcoming events, construction updates, and general community information to local media and influencers.
- Maintain blog and social media channels with local content, events, and points of interest
Over the span of the campaign, media garnered for the community includes featured stories around news and events by WJLA (ABC-7), WTOP (103.5), The Washington Post, The Fairfax Connector, and Greater Greater Washington.
