Real-Estate Boom Lures
Orvis, Deere, Armani

Three nonreal-estate companies better known for tractors, fish and fashion are lending their names to real-estate projects, even as fears mount that the property bull market is reaching a peak.

Deere & Co., Orvis Co. and Giorgio Armani SpA announced they will enter separate joint ventures with luxury-property developers to attach their coveted brands to high-end homes and lodging.

Deere, of Moline, Ill., has joined closely held St. Lawrence Homes Inc., of Raleigh, N.C., to create a "John Deere Signature Community" in Durham, N.C. The $375,000 to $500,000 homes will come with a garage full of John Deere gear, including a lawn tractor with two years of free maintenance, a hand-held leaf blower, a trimmer, plus garden and cleaning tools. Deere estimates the package is worth $4,000 to $5,000.

Home buyers will also get to choose from three Deere-designed landscaping packages for the plots ranging from one-half to one acre. The plants and shrubs will come from John Deere Landscapes, a landscaping-supply wholesaler and Deere unit.

John Jenkins, Deere's president for commercial and consumer equipment, stresses the venture isn't a real-estate play. "It's a way of showing the customer that John Deere can be one source in having beautiful land."

Meantime, Orvis, the Manchester, Vt., outdoors retailer best known for its fly-fishing gear, is forming a joint venture with commercial real-estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield to sell luxury ranch and recreational properties.

The two closely held companies hope to combine Cushman & Wakefield's corporate-executive contacts and Orvis's list of fly-fishing and hunting customers. The joint-venture firm will use Orvis's Web site and its retail outlets to attract buyers.

For Cushman & Wakefield, the move signals a departure from its focus on commercial real estate. It's the first time the company has ventured into the residential or recreational side of the market, and it comes at a time when some say those sectors are overvalued.

"We're talking about farms, ranches, country estates, where the recreation could range from fly fishing, bird shooting and hiking to just plain relaxing," says John B. Watson, president and chief executive of the new Orvis/Cushman & Wakefield Ranch & Recreational Properties LLC.

Armani announced a deal with Emaar Hotels & Resorts LLC to "oversee all aspects of content, design and style" for a series of "Armani Hotels and Resorts" worth more than $1 billion.

The first project will be in Dubai's Burj Dubai, slated to be the tallest building in the world when completed in 2008. It will be more than 2,000 feet tall and will include a 175-room hotel and 160 luxury apartments designed by Armani.

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