Still, a beacon for affordable housing
The Beacon Companies' history includes development of Boston landmarks such as Rowes Wharf and One Post Office Square, as well as rental housing. Due to the unexpected death last March of Edwin Sidman, a member of the founding Leventhal family, the company was renamed Beacon Communities and is now headed by Howard Cohen , a Beacon veteran. Cohen spoke with Globe reporter Kimberly Blanton.
Q: Why the name change?
A: When Ed died last March, the understanding with the Leventhal family was that the name would stay with them, and we would be able to go on as a Beacon entity but with a different name -- so that's Beacon Communities. Beacon Companies has been a name in the family for years, and they intend to use it for other business opportunities in the future.
Q: How is Beacon Communities different?
A: Historically, Beacon did office development, hotels, and residential. But for the last decade, it focused strictly on residential development. The Beacon Communities will continue in large-scale, multifamily development. We'll focus on urban developments, and we're particularly interested in developments that have an element of affordability. Historically, we've been focused primarily on rental housing, but we're now doing our first multiunit condo developments.
Q: What are these projects?
A: We have two. One is in Haverhill and includes condos and rental units and both market-rate and affordable units. It's a full city block, a renovation of two old mill buildings with 175 units total right in the middle of downtown Haverhill. Then we're doing a 385-condo development on Pleasant Street, off of Watertown Square, in Watertown.
Q: What do you make of Boston's condo market?
A: Prices are starting to moderate, and I don't think we're going to see substantial appreciation. But I don't think we've overbuilt, and as long as the economy stays relatively firm, I think we'll go back to what would be a more normal housing market, where it's a reasonable decision to buy but not necessarily that you're going to sell it a week later and make $50,000.
Q: What are some of the most interesting residential projects going on now?
A: South Boston, where we're really creating a new, third downtown, which is going to dramatically change the perception of the city 25 years into the future.
A: There are two ways to make housing more affordable: You can decrease the demand or increase the supply. So far, we've been decreasing the demand as people have been leaving the state, which isn't a particularly good way to do it because the people leaving have college degrees.
The alternative is we have to increase the supply. There has been some increase over the past several years, but there's more to go. The primary obstacle to increasing supply is the lack of land zoned for higher-density, more affordable developments.
Q: Have developers misused Chapter 40B, a state law that can override cities and towns to create multiunit projects?
A: The primary problem is that when 40B was enacted in 1969, it was supposed to be used on an exceptional basis to overcome local opposition to development of affordable rental housing, but it's become the state's primary tool for developing everything except single-family homes.
Even with 40B, the opposition from towns to multifamily developments is very intense, so many developers go with the path of least resistance, which is housing for people over 55.
Q: Why does Beacon Communities, a profit-making firm, build mixed-income housing?
A: The company has a history of doing mixed-income housing so we're continuing that tradition. A number of us came out of the public sector, where we were involved in city and state agencies that were doing affordable housing, and it's been part of what we see as our corporate expertise.
In a lot of places -- Massachusetts and other states we work in -- people are interested in doing something that breaks down income segregation, which is almost uniquely American.
