In working with long-term clients, Taylor Johnson regularly has an opportunity to promote large-scale projects from conception to delivery — whether it’s a skyline-altering downtown high-rise or master-planned community in the suburbs. That was certainly the case with Cassidy on Canal, a rental tower developed by Habitat on a significant site in Chicago’s Fulton River District.

From the start, TJ was there every step of the way in a dual capacity, not only coordinating major milestone events like the groundbreaking and grand opening ceremonies — collectively attended by hundreds of guests — but also managing PR efforts throughout the project’s construction and lease-up. From the moment Habitat closed on land formerly home to the historic Cassidy Tire Building, TJ took an intentional approach by working closely with the firm’s leadership to lay out a multiyear media strategy designed to generate a steady drumbeat of earned coverage focused on Habitat’s vision for the site.

TJ’s initial PR efforts, which involved press release distribution and targeted pitching, were rewarded with features on the Cassidy property acquisition in CoStar, Bisnow, Chicago Construction News and other trade publications, followed by press attending the building’s groundbreaking event and subsequent stories in Chicago Business Journal, Chicago YIMBY and Multifamily Dive later in the year.

During the construction phase, TJ set up tours for Urbanize Chicago, which visited the project site not once, but twice to chart the building’s progress. When Cassidy reached top-off height, we placed stories in Connect CRE Chicago & Midwest, REjournals and Chicago YIMBY, highlighting details of the building’s structure and the work of project partner — and fellow TJ client — McHugh Construction.

A little less than two years after shovels went into the ground, the media coverage came full circle as the building reached completion. Through TJ’s efforts, Axios shined a spotlight on Cassidy on Canal’s significance to the Fulton River District and the Chicago Sun-Times profiled the building’s momentous opening. Additional stories appeared in CoStar, REjournals and UNITS Magazine, to name a few.

As Cassidy on Canal illustrates, doing PR the TJ Way — taking a targeted, holistic approach to maximizing media coverage across a project’s lifespan — builds excitement and anticipation for a project’s opening and positions it for a successful lease-up.