Gatsby's Enduring Popularity With Developers

Since its publication, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 'The Great Gatsby' has epitomized affluence and excess, especially for New York, where the book is set. Leonardo DiCaprio aside, Elizabeth Harris looks at the enduring attraction of Gatsby for developers.

May 7, 2013, 7am PDT | Jonathan Nettler | @nettsj

In advance of the opening of Baz Luhrmann's Gatsby movie this week, Harris examines the book's continued inspiration for real estate interests from Long Island to Michigan.

"There are the Gatsby condominiums on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and the Fitzgerald apartment building on the other side of Central Park. There is a Gatsby Lane carved out of a subdivision in Montgomery, Ala., where Mr. Fitzgerald’s wife, Zelda, was raised. And there is a 50-year-old company created by the real estate titan Peter Sharp and his longtime partner, Norman Peck, that still exists today."

“'You’re always looking for something of interest that ties in, so people can get emotionally involved in the marketing,' said Andrew Gerringer, managing director for new business development at the Marketing Directors, who was involved in naming both the Gatsby and the Fitzgerald, in Manhattan. 'The best is always a historical reference.'”

Perhaps the developers don't recall that the story ends in tragedy.

Full Story:

Developers, Borne Back Ceaselessly Into Gatsby’s Embrace

Published on Monday, May 6, 2013 in The New York Times