Despite the Economy, St Mary’s is Aglow Again!

You may have seen the St. Mary’s of French Hill redevelopment project in the news lately and marveled at how desirable the neighborhood has become.

LYN GORKA How is it possible to develop and sell out new condominiums during a recession? What’s in store for next year?

St. Mary’s was one of three parishes in the French Hill area of Marlborough. The Archdiocese sold St. Mary’s four years ago. The grounds are located near downtown and Route I-495 on 2.5 acres, consisting of a 1870s Church, 1920s Federal Revival Rectory and a 1950s school building. Two developers, Stas Burdan and Alex Yarov, bought St. Mary’s with the intent of preserving its historic character while creating eco-luxury condominium residences.

To preserve the properties character, their plansstipulated that the units were restricted to owner occupants and the lot would consist of 50% green space. Financing is difficult for new renovations; this uniqueliving complex required a number of pre-construction sales. To make this project work the units had to be marketed while they were under construction. Even though pre-construction sales are almost unheard of in this market, all ten were sold prior to completion.

Infrastructure, sidewalks, parking and landscapinginstallation commenced October 2007. The School building was the first renovated into 10 new contemporary styled condominium units with big windows and high ceilings. Each unit has high efficiency gas appliances, in-unit laundry, 2 bedrooms and corresponding full baths. Customization of colors, flooring, cabinets, granite, and central air to each buyer’s specifications, was available. Comprehensiveinsulation and sound deadening techniques add privacy and energy efficiency to all the units.

The Rectory was next. Traditional and elegant in its styling with foyers, dramatic staircases, original birch floors, fluted columns, glass door knobs, and moreperiod details were preserved. In many cases, the original features were disassembled, marked and reassembled and re-installed. The units range up to 2400 extremely spacious square feet. All 5 units soldby September 2009.

The Church followed. It consists of 10 units: 3 garden style with private entrances in the lower church and 7 townhouse style with lofts. 9 of the 10 units are alreadysold.

The developers preserved the wood panels in the vestibule and period atrium window at the front of the church. Two of the units also have a small room in the steeple which is now lit at night.

The next stage will be to construct a row of 11 townhomes along St. Mary’s Way. These will be contemporary styled units, approximately 1500 sf with 2 bedrooms, 2 ½ baths and a 2 car tandem garage under. They will have rear balconies overlooking LakeWilliams. Sales begin in January with completion anticipated for the summer.

The market effect for this project is significant. Condo sales are currently 18% of the market in Marlborough. St. Mary’s School accounted for half the condo sales in the summer quarter of 2008 which stemmed the steep decline in condo sales and helped stabilize falling prices.

In the area condo market, median sale prices are up 5.4% ($36.9K) from $239K (2008) to $275.9K (2009).

Inventory is down from 11.6 months in 2008 to 7.3 months now. This is considered a balanced market. Median sales prices appear to have bottomed out in the last year and units sold bottomed out in the 1st quarter of this year. So the condo market appears stable and improving. Since the 1st time home buyer and homeowner tax credits have been enacted and extended to April 31st and since the US Treasury is buying down interest rates to their lowest levels in years, there may never be a better time to buy.

St. Mary’s has been successful in a down market because of great affordable, customized luxury in a convenient location. Visit www. st.marys-condos.com for details.

I wish you and yours a Happy Holidays and realization of your dreams in the coming New Year.