News
Condo Can-do
July 26, 2010
| Duffy Realty's Graystone at Winchester, a 50-unit luxury townhouse community in that long built-out suburb, is the company's first condo project in 10 years. For Duffy, pre-construction sales make it relatively low risk. For the town, affluent empty nesters mean high tax revenues and few public services. |
 |
| We snapped The Collaborative Cos.' Carrie Bush, Kevin Duffy (the third generation to run the business), and Sue Hawkes in a recently completed 3.5k SF unit. The 18 units completed or under construction are selling for $695k to $875k. Since few others are building multifamily projects there, Kevin jumped at the old Purcell Farm site when it was auctioned in ?06. Winchester is a unique market—a quiet, leafy suburb near Boston with little new condo product. Kevin said he's minimized his risk by selling before he builds and self-financing. ?We wouldn?t be building if we needed outside financing,? he said. ?There isn't any.? |
 |
| The 10-acre site originally was zoned for 25 single- family houses that likely would have been populated with lots of school age children. For the town, that would have meant more education expenses and less tax revenue per acre. Kevin spent two years permitting and then waited through ?08 while the economy convulsed. He started construction last May and marketing in the fall. Since then, he's sold 15 units; 11 are under P&S; and four more are in process. ?We only pull the building permit when one unit is sold in a two-unit building or two are sold in a three-unit building,? he said. The GC is Duffy Construction, the site planner, BSC, the architect, MZO Architects, with marketing directed by TCC. The first residents arrive in September. |
 |
| We found Le Blanc Mechanical? Eric Guigno and Matt Brown installing HVAC tubing. The high-efficiency temperature control equipment and tankless hot-water system will bring heating costs to a low $1k/year and cooling to $200/year, Kevin told us. Interior finishes include red oak flooring, custom built shelves, cabinets, millwork, and deep baseboards. Every unit has a full 1k SF unfinished basement and two-car garage. The man-made exterior, a kissing cousin to clapboard and shingle siding, only needs painting once every 25 years. |
