River Street owner seeking change from condos to apartments

The condo market in Mattapan will not support an initial plan for homeownership units in this new building on River Street, according to the developer, who now wants to make the project all rentals.

The owner and developer of a 27-unit condominium building nearing completion on River Street near Mattapan Square last week asked for the community’s blessing to change it from condominiums to rental apartments, citing financial pressures and a changing market that he says are working against homeownership sales.

Joseph Taylor’s proposal consists of four floors of 23 market-rate and 4 affordable residential apartments at 422 River St. that would sit in a new wood-frame building overlooking the Neponset River and the adjacent Greenway trail with a garage for 22 parking spaces on the first level.

At a Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) meeting last Thursday evening, Taylor said that the project was his most ambitious endeavor, as he already owns and manages several smaller multi-family dwellings in Boston and Quincy.

Speaking before a handful of community members, consultant Mike Foley of Jack Conway & Co. said the financing had become unworkable at condominium prices. The market will not support a condo project of this size, he said, adding that only four condo sales had closed in the last year in the entire Mattapan neighborhood, with another six under agreement.

When Taylor secured short-term financing for the building, beginning what would ultimately amount to a $4 million investment in the property, outlooks for development were “optimistic,” Foley said, and “based on our anticipation that the market in Mattapan would grow.” Now, however, “based on today’s market, it just isn’t feasible the sell out this building,” Foley said. If the market strengthens over the next several years, a conversion back to homeownership would be on the table, he added.

It is a Class A-quality building, a five-minute walk from Mattapan Station and near a pedestrian entrance to the forthcoming Neponset River Greenway extension, Taylor said, with “every bell and whistle that a condo would have.”

Based on market tests, Taylor estimated, the two-bedroom, two-bathroom units would be marketed with monthly rents between $1,600 and $1,725; the one-bedroom, one-bathroom units would go for between $1,475 and $1,550.

Some of those in attendance questioned the wisdom of Taylor’s financial decisions, with some saying they were annoyed by advertisements for renting the apartments before the change officially took place. Foley said the rental outreach was to gauge interest and mollify the bank, which would foreclose on the property if it cannot reasonably turn a profit.

Traci Bethea, who attended the meeting, said she had given the realtor a check for more than the mentioned $1,725 and felt misled by the proceedings. “I like the move toward transparency,” she said after the session. “ I think it’s still a concern that, at least in my feeling, the owner is not taking full responsibility for his choices. It’s not the bank’s fault.”

Despite skepticism, community members indicated a willingness to consider the change, with Taylor pledging to retain control of the property and manage it himself.

BPDA spokeswoman Bonnie McGilpin said the request for a project change would go to the BPDA board today (Dec. 15).

The 422 River St. project conversation is taking place amidst a flurry of development in that area of Mattapan, which has at times been met with trepidation from residents worried about encouraging high rental turnover in a neighborhood with consistent homeownership.

Rae Catchings, president of the River Street Civic Association, said that the broader push for development around River Street was not necessarily in line with the needs of the immediate community.

She cited the Schoolhouse Apartments and the Baker Chocolate factory near Lower Mills as contributing to a generally “transient” rental population on either end of River Street “that’s difficult to stabilize over long periods of time.”

“This stretch of Mattapan doesn’t have that,” she said. “It’s a lot of single family, double-family homes, homeownership with a yard, really neighborhood-friendly. And to have condos support how we currently exist — condos, homeownership supports that. Apartments don’t.”

Representatives from Nuestra Comunidad Development Corporation and the Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) also attended the meeting in the back of the Mattapan Library. The two groups are working together to re-develop an MBTA owned parking lot next to Mattapan station with plans for a mixed-use project at 466 River St.

Julie Creamer, POAH’s vice president of real estate, said they are watching the surrounding market closely as they work with the MBTA to determine bus routes around the lot. The Nuestra/POAH project is slated to include 135 units of housing, 69 of which are described as affordable, and 12,000 square feet of commercial space.

Coincidentally, a property owner near Lower Mills has halted his proposed 18-unit condominium building pitched for 73 River St. The project was met with hostility from civic leaders during public meetings convened earlier this year. The developer, George Tsolirides, said at the time that, although homeownership would be preferable, he reserved the right to consider rental units depending on the market.

McGilpin said that Tsolirides told the BPDA last month that he will no longer be pursuing the project.


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