News
Winn Development Crankin'
May 31, 2011
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| Winn Development president Larry Curtis (left, mustache), Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, and US Housing and Urban Development secretary Shaun Donovan toured Castle Square Apartments in the South End recently. It's one of 10 Winn projects in development or recently completed nationwide. Federal stimulus funds went into the renovation of the 500-unit project, which is privately owned affordable housing. HUD?s largest energy retrofit so far, the aim is to reduce energy usage at the South End complex by 72%. Rehabbing affordable housing, often using Low Income Housing Tax Credits, is one of four Winn business lines. The 40-year-old Boston company (housed in historic Quincy Market) also makes opportunistic purchases of other developers' struggling projects,renovates historic properties for housing, and manages 40,000 units of military housing nationwide. |
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| We snapped Winn?s Jerry Lemon, Susan Malatesta, Adam Stein, and Larry preparing to start work mid-June on part of the Malden Mills complex in Lawrence. Larry tells us Winn will soon close on its purchase of the project that's been eight years in the making, a 900k SF portion of Malden Mills that it will redevelop for $30M. He plans to renovate the property that is next to a working textile mill. Phase I will have 75 units of mixed-income housing. Larry says Winn will deliver ?good housing adjacent to good paying jobs.? Another market rate deal in which the market ?didn't respond? as planned was the 903 Residences in Providence, RI. Winn bought the building, rehabbed it, and recently sold it for $25M, ?a nice profit,? Larry says. |
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| Winn CEO Samuel Ross, residential president William Wollinger, chairman Michael Putziger, and Larry comprise the leadership. They find historic buildings a good place to work (like their Quincy Market office above) and good buildings to overhaul. This winter, Winn completed the last 17-unit phase of redevelopment at the Baker Chocolate factory in Dorchester Lower Falls. They're now working on transforming the Curtain Lofts in Fall River into 97 units of rental housing for a total development cost of $26M. Larry says that financing, especially a construction loan, is still more difficult to secure than before the financial crisis. But banks like Bank of America, which purchased $28M in tax credits for Castle Square, are stepping in to invest. For a well-established player like Winn though, Larry tells us that the multifamily market is ?fabulous.? |
