Page 4 - New England Condominium October 2020

4 NEW ENGLAND CONDOMINIUM -OCTOBER 2020 NEWENGLANDCONDO.COM Industry Pulse Events New England Condo Introduces FREE We- binars—a New Resource for Boards and Man- agers at newenglandcondo.com/events New England Condominium , a Yale Rob- bins publication, has been a resource for the boards, managers, and residents of condos, HOAs, and co-ops for nearly two decades, both in print and online—and we are pleased to announce a new addition to our toolkit. Yale Robbins Productions has launched New England Condominium Webinars, a Coop- erator Event, which is a new series of FREE educational ‘town-hall’ style webinars, spon- sored by leaders in the multifamily industry and focusing on issues and challenges facing today’s boards. We have assembled expert panels on everything from legal questions around the COVID-19 pandemic to opti- mizing your insurance coverage to disin- fecting your community’s pool. Registration and attendance are FREE to all—just visit newenglandcondo.com/events, choose the webinar you’d like to attend, and sign up. It’s that simple. You’ll get an email link and re- minders for the event, and will have the op- portunity to submit questions for the panel- ists before and during the webinar itself. Past events are archived and available on-demand on newenglandcondo.com/events. Serving on your board is a big job, and a big responsibility, but sound, timely advice from industry veterans can help lighten the load and make your building or association run more smoothly. We’re committed to helping you achieve that, and look forward to ‘seeing’ you at an upcoming webinar! CAI Launches Workforce Program for 2020 Grads The Community Associations Institute (CAI) has launched a Community Manage- ment Training and Certification Program, according to the organization’s news release. The self-paced curriculum will explore the responsibilities of property maintenance; best practices for developing, managing, and balancing association budgets; preparing contractor proposals; and understanding a community association reserve study. Learn more about CAI’s Community Management Training and Certification Program at http:// www.caionline.org.” Law & Legislation Judge Says Mass. Eviction Halt Can Stay A federal judge said last month that Mas- sachusetts’ temporary ban on most types of evictions can stay in place, but at the same time said that the COVID-19 pandemic does not give the governor a “blank check” for im- posing restrictions on the populace. U. S. District Court Judge Mark L. Wolf said there will come a time when the mora- torium has gone on too long to pass con- stitutional muster, according to a report in Law360, an online news source for legal pro- fessionals, business leaders, and government officials. Wolf did not immediately issue a formal ruling. He said, however, that he intended to deny a motion for a preliminary injunction filed by some Bay State landlords who sought to block the pause on most eviction proceed- ings that was put in place because of the CO- VID-19 pandemic and resulting job losses. At a September 10 hearing, Wolf noted that the pandemic has waned in Massachusetts since April, when the merits of the prelimi- nary injunction were weighed. On April 20, more than 3,800 Massachusetts residents were hospitalized because of COVID-19. That number had dipped to 322 as of Sep- tember 7, according to state data. Judge Wolf said a pandemic is not “a blank check for state elected officials to tram- ple constitutional rights,” according to the Law360 report. Referencing the World War II internment of Japanese Americans, he said that “fortunately, the rights in this (eviction) case do not involve anybody’s liberty, but this case does implicate constitutional rights and I hope that the decisions made during this pandemic by our elected officials and by the courts will not be viewed in retrospect to be ‘gravely wrong’ themselves.” The landlords had argued that the Mas- sachusetts Legislature’s “nuclear option” of halting housing court hearings for eviction disputes goes too far in eroding essential property rights. Proponents of the temporary ban say they fear a wave of evictions with people out of work and unable to pay rent ex- acerbating the COVID-19 crisis. The landlords are represented by Richard D. Vetstein of Vetstein Law Group PC and Jordana R. Roubicek. Massachusetts is repre- sented by the state Attorney General’s Office. MCAD Says Town Did Not Discriminate Against Under-55 Condo Resident The Massachusetts Commission on Dis- crimination (MCAD) has dismissed a com- plaint against the town of Mattapoisett filed by a couple regarding the 55-and-over age requirement for residents of the Mattapoisett Landing Condominiums, according to an article in The Wanderer newspaper. The case dates back to 2016, when Cheryl Martin and Brian Porter received permission from the Mattapoisett Landing condominium board of trustees granting Porter, who at the time was not yet 55, to remain as a resident of the complex. When built, the Mattapoisett Landing Condominium development was granted a permit by the Mattapoisett Planning Board with specific restrictions, including that the project would be developed with a 55-and- over age requirement in order to allow for a higher density of condominiums than is al- lowed under the existing overlay zoning for the area. But after the couple received a waiver from the association board, the town was informed that a tenant living in the develop- ment did not meet the mandatory age restric- tion. In response, the town’s zoning-enforce- ment officer issued a cease-and-desist to the individual, resulting in litigation. In July 2017, the United States Land Court upheld the town’s cease-and-desist order, and the tenant, who was in violation with the mandatory age restriction, was forced to leave. Last month, the town was notified that the case that had been wending its way through the Land Court and more recently the MCAD was brought to a close when the commission dismissed the complaint, according to The Wanderer . The issue before the MCAD was whether the association could amend the conditions originally set by the town in order to allow an under-55 person to live there. In a September press release, the town an- nounced that the MCAD granted its motion to dismiss the discrimination complaint filed by the couple. The press release from Town Admin- istrator Mike Lorenco said, “The Town of Mattapoisett is pleased with the decision. Administration would like to recognize and acknowledge the hard work of the Town’s Planning Board in properly permitting a project of definite need for Mattapoisett. The Town will continue to try to discover differ- ent avenues to promote affordable and ap- propriate housing for Mattapoisett’s growing senior population.” Real Estate Development Mass. Condo Sales Down Slightly While Prices Rise The Massachusetts Association of Real- tors® (MAR) reported a year-over-year in- crease in closed sales of single-family homes (+3.6%) in July, the first increase in closed sales of single-family homes since March. Condominium sales, however, decreased slightly in July (-1.4%), according to a press release from the MAR. The median price for single-family homes ($475,000) rose by 8.4% and the condominium median price ($423,000) rose by 6%, when compared to July 2019. New listings in July included 6,942 single- family homes and 3,016 condominiums, a combined increase of over 2,000 homes since June, while inventory levels decreased over 50% since July 2019. Showing activity in July remained substantially higher than last year, and multiple offer situations are a frequent experience in many areas of the state, the MAR said. At the same time, home buyers are securing mortgage rates near record-low levels and mortgage applications are up from a year ago. New Condos Coming to Lynn, MA Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, resi- dential construction has continued in Mas- sachusetts, including work on a $23 million, 72-unit condominium building on Lynn’s waterfront district. Developer Patrick Mc- Grath’s team broke ground on the project in August, with completion expected next sum- mer. The property on Blossom Street was for- merly home to a transmission business. The new five-story building will include mostly one-bedroom condos, selling for about $300,000. The condo’s first floor will be used for parking. Sales are likely to begin in Janu- ary, McGrath said. James M. Cowdell, executive director of the Economic Development & Industrial Corporation of Lynn, said the project is “an- other significant development in Lynn. “Despite COVID, we continue to see ma- jor investments being made,” Cowdell told the Boston Globe. Bower Building at Fenway Opens The first of two new residential buildings, part of a $1.3 billion project located adjacent to Fenway Park and the Lansdowne Com- muter Rail Station in Boston, has opened, according to a press release from Meredith Management. The Bower residential development is phase 1 of the project being developed by Gerding Edlen, in joint venture partnership with Meredith Management and Nuveen Real Estate. When complete there will be 312 apartments. The estimated project cost for phase 1 is $240 million. According to the press statement, the project “re-imagines an underutilized urban crossroads as a walkable, pedestrian-oriented community that reconnects the Audubon, Fenway, Kenmore, and Longwood Medical Area neighborhoods.” Comprised of two buildings—an 8-story, 100-unit mid-rise and an adjacent 14-story, 212-unit tower—Bower provides a mix of studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments. Amenities at Bower include a 12,500-square- foot public plaza and multi-level landscaped pedestrian walkways connecting the two buildings, the company said. Bower will be LEED Gold certified and the first multifamily building in New Eng- land to use dynamic View Smart Glass, ac- cording to the release. Designed to tint auto- matically in response to ambient light levels throughout the day, View Smart Glass allows natural light into the buildings while keep- ing unwanted heat and glare out without the PULSE continued on page 14