SELLING ARMENIANS ON ARMENIA CONDOS LURE EXPATRIATES BACK HOME.Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer GLENDALE - Forget Hawaii, Aspen or the Caribbean. How about buying a time share in ... Armenia? It may sound like a tough sell - mainstream attractions are few in this arid, agricultural country of 3 million. But builders of Western-style town homes just outside the capital Yerevan believe they have ready buyers among the more than 8 million Armenians living outside the country. ``Come Home to Armenia'' beckons the marketing campaign of East Coast-based Hovnanian International Inc., which has just begun to market the time shares in Glendale, home to the largest population of Armenians outside Armenia. ``To local Armenians, I say, It's your land, it's your responsibility, to go back and see how magnificent it is,'' said Hovnanian representative Hilda Grigorian, who staged the first time share meeting this month in Glendale, drawing more than 100 prospective buyers. Armenian-Americans have flocked to visit Armenia since its independence 13 years ago from the former Soviet Union. There they encounter a land of great natural and historic beauty - and Third World living conditions living conditions npl → condiciones fpl de vida living conditions npl → conditions fpl de vie living conditions living . Running water in the capital city is sometimes limited to a few hours in the morning and evening, phone service and electricity are erratic - elevators break down in high-rise buildings high-rise building Multistory building taller than the maximum height people are willing to walk up, thus requiring vertical mechanical transportation. The introduction of safe passenger elevators made practical the erection of buildings more than four or five stories tall. . No building codes or inspections exist despite the pattern of earthquakes - a reality in a place where the average monthly income is about $24. But for those willing to plunk down Verb 1. plunk down - set (something or oneself) down with or as if with a noise; "He planked the money on the table"; "He planked himself into the sofa" plonk, flump, plank, plump, plump down, plunk, plop $4,500 to $6,000 for a 20-year lease on one of Hovnanian's fully furnished 1,500- to 1,800-square-foot town homes, the one-week-a-year time shares provide an old-world setting without its nitty-gritty inconvenience. In fact, Hovnanian's enclave enclave /en·clave/ (en´klav) tissue detached from its normal connection and enclosed within another organ. en·clave n. A detached mass of tissue enclosed in tissue of another kind. , which at build-out will have 500 single- family homes, looks much like homes in planned communities Noun 1. planned community - a residential district that is planned for a certain class of residents residential area, residential district, community - a district where people live; occupied primarily by private residences in Irvine or Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - only with Mount Ararat as a backdrop. ``Our goal is to get the Armenian diaspora to return and to return frequently - if not every year, but every other year,'' said Arthur Havighorst, vice president for Vahakni (Hovnanian) Homes and Timeshare A form of shared property ownership, commonly in vacation or recreation condominium property, in which rights vest in several owners to use property for a specified period each year. Resort. The pull of family and culture is similar to the concept behind time shares in Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates, federation of sheikhdoms (2005 est. pop. 2,563,000), c.30,000 sq mi (77,700 sq km), SE Arabia, on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. - not necessarily considered the top vacation destinations for the average traveler. La Crescenta resident Leonig Shekherdimian already visits Armenia once a year to see family and take in scenes from her homeland. She typically rents a Yerevan apartment, with its trials of broken plumbing and sweltering swel·ter·ing adj. 1. Oppressively hot and humid; sultry. 2. Suffering from oppressive heat. swel accommodations with no air-conditioning. A time share would mean that ``I don't have to worry about no water or no heating or no air conditioning air conditioning, mechanical process for controlling the humidity, temperature, cleanliness, and circulation of air in buildings and rooms. Indoor air is conditioned and regulated to maintain the temperature-humidity ratio that is most comfortable and healthful. .'' La Crescenta resident Gagik Alagozian visited Armenia for the first time two years ago, and that was enough for him to decide to invest in the country. ``I opened up a small business there - I have cattle - and I want to expand,'' said the aerospace engineer who moved to America from Iran 27 years ago. He also plans to invest in a home. ``We go to Big Bear to see nature, but in Armenia, there are places absolutely untouched that you can explore.'' There is also an effort to market the time shares to retirees and tourists. More than 41,000 visitors come to the country each year, and tourism is now the second largest part of the country's GDP GDP (guanosine diphosphate): see guanine. . ``Armenia is a beautiful country. It has a strong, ancient history, and it was the first Christian nation,'' Shekherdimian said. ``Just to visit the churches there says a lot about our country and culture.'' Naush Boghossian, (818) 546-3306 naush.boghossian(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) A postcard shows the advertising angle used by the Armenian American Chamber of Commerce to sell time-share resorts in Armenia. (2) Hovnanian International's Hilda Grigorian says that, ``to local Armenians, I say, it's your land, it's your responsibility, to go back and see how magnificent it is.'' John McCoy/Staff Photographer |
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