I've focused on a lot of local SEO clients lately (normally I work with national clients), and I can say this exact method is still a great strategy. I've gotten maybe 3 new clients the past month and they are all ranking #2 or #1 with this technique. And my client's sites were virtually brand new, and we've outranked sites that have been around for years. For information purposes, the niches I've worked with the past month have been doctors, home renovation and real estate. Obviously you need to make sure your onsite is on par and that you must have at least a couple high powered links like a PBN or guest post.
So, to sum up, this method will still rank a site.