WOLLASTON WEDNESDAY #39: Incase you needed to know... today is Thursday the 26th...
Some of you may need to know this... today is Thursday the 26th. I know being quarantined during the coronavirus stinks and it's easy for time to blend and slip away. That's what happened to this weeks Wolly Wednesday. Haha!
We thought we would take this time to quickly overview every project we have in the pipes or in construction. The governor of Massachusetts has stated that construction is considered essential so we are able to work full speed with our current projects. However we have encountered some delays with projects requiring community meetings.
74 Burt St, Boston MA
We've continued to revise a set of plans that we feel confident in presenting to the community while maximizing construction bang for buck! Unfortunately, the inspectional services department in Boston is not reviewing new permit applications due to COVID-19. So progress on this project with respect to permitting is at a halt. We have to get our permit denial letter before we can officially begin the public hearing portion to get this project moving. If you want more information on how to permit a multi-family project, feel free to read our blog about it. https://www.wollastonrei.com/single-post/2020/01/15/WOLLASTON-WEDNESDAY-32-How-to-Permit-a-Multi-Family-Project
43-49 Georgia St, Boston MA
We have had our abutters meeting and two community meetings for this project. All in all, the community has wanted to see adjustments to the exterior of our buildings. We're revising these renderings to show pitched roofs, (vaulted ceilings for penthouse units :)) along with more historical trim pieces and a little bit of stained glass. Updated renderings to come soon!
89 Central Ave, Chelsea MA
This bad boy is almost all done. We've went under P&S for our penthouse unit and we're working to find buyers for other two units. We're going to list a coming soon shortly for the second floor unit and have an open house after this two week ban is over. All of our kitchen backsplashes are done, lighting is in, finish plumbing and hvac connections have been made and we've just ordered our flooring. We will have this buttoned up and ready for staging shortly. We're going to stamp the facade of the concrete in the next two weeks for a more textured look and we'll button up the railing on the porches at the same time.
19 Suffolk St, Chelsea MA
This project so far has made us really enjoy new construction. We've excavated, built our retaining wall, installed our helical piles and are prepping for our foundation to be poured. This part of the job was the "scariest" for us since we haven't done it yet, however we put together a strong team and it's been quite "easy" so far. Knock on wood! But we'll continue to keep you posted.
14 Cottage St, Chelsea MA
Cottage St is a triple decker we wish we didn't buy. We bought the property assuming a handful of things however when we opened walls we were in for a big surprise. We ended up doing about double the amount of work as originally budgeted. This deal for us is going to be a break even transaction. Moving forward, we're only buying development projects where we can afford to do everything over. There is just too many unknowns when working with a building that is 100 years old. We're installing the doors and trim next and we'll begin painting shortly after. We'll be looking to raise an additional $75k to finish the renovations on this project. Fortunately for us, 89 Central two blocks away has set a great comp for us. We feel confident we will hit our sellout numbers once this virus settles down.
861 Main St, Holyoke MA
Our thirteen units are approaching the finish line. We're waiting on our 100 windows to arrive, we're replacing the roof this week, and we've been moving unit by unit with our HVAC repairs. Some of the bathrooms need more repairs than initially planned due to years of neglect but we're working through them. We'll be able to start leasing up units in approximately 45 days or so. This multi-family project should perform very well and we're excited to open discussions for refinance purposes.
15-17 West Chestnut St, Brockton MA
This project has turned into a nightmare! I can't believe 4 of these units were being lived in before we purchased the property. They heavy fluff and buff idea was blown out of the water on this one. We will have completely replaced all plumbing and electrical services in this building. The scope of work has increased so dramatically that we can no longer refinance and keep this property. We will finish renovations and offer these six units up to the city of Brockton as very affordable entry level condos. Brockton doesn't have a huge condo market but these condos will be affordable enough to compete with market rents.
464 Central St, Lowell MA
This project while not as bad as West Chestnut, has also turned in to much more of a heavy lift than planned. The city has us doing much more electrical and plumbing work than initially planned. Once we opened up an exterior wall that was of concern, our structural renovations jumped drastically. Lowell does have a condo market and we will offer these units up as condos as well. Our goal with this project and the Brockton project was to keep them as rentals, fortunately we had an alternative exit strategy we will execute on to keep these deals profitable.
95-97 W Walnut St, Boston MA
This is a two family project with permits in place we plan to close on in the next week. We secured a JV partner who is bringing the funding and we will execute the day to day operations for development. What we've continued to learn is that projects that require absolutely everything are easier to underwrite compared to the piece by piece renovations. We have a very healthy renovation budget for this project and are looking forward to using very high end subs here. This will likely be the last project we purchase in the next 4-6 months while we wrap up our current renovations.