Judith Jenkins
Title: President of the Homebuilders Association of Massachusetts, vice president of Can-Four Corp. in Canton
Age: 61
Experience: 31 Years
Judith Jenkins didn’t rise to the position of president of the Homebuilders Association of Massachusetts (HBAM) by being a wallflower.
As vice president of Can-Four Corp. in Canton for the last 31 years, she has been building homes with her husband, William, across the state.
But over the last several years, she has stepped up her participation in the trade associations, in part to rally developers to defend the controversial 40b affordable housing program.
“I felt very strongly that 40b was an important tool for developers, but also that it’s absolutely necessary that we build affordable housing in the commonwealth,” Jenkins said. “It wasn’t getting done.”
She became president of the Builders Association of Greater Boston (BAGB) in 2006, and soon found herself on the board of directors for HBAM.
Now as president of that association – her one-year term began July 1 – she knows she has her work cut out for her.
“It’s a challenging time to become president of the state organization,” she said. “We’ve seen a decline in membership, but an increase in issues. We need our voices to be heard. A few voices are a whisper, but we deal with over 1,500 member companies; we have the collective voice to be heard.”
What did you think about the state’s Inspector General claiming developers may have stolen as much as $100 million from the state through 40b?
Well I clearly was taken aback that someone in his position would make that statement in public, and then kind of leave it there and not have any follow-up, examples, or proof. I was disappointed, quite honestly, that there wasn’t some balance to the overall reporting on that issue. But this is really nothing new. It’s clear that the IG is not a fan of 40b.
I just know from our side that, and for many organizations, whether it’s Citizens Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA), or the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), Mass. Housing Partnership (MHP): Clearly 40b has produced affordable housing. The opponents of it have tried to twist that a little bit, but there really is no doubt that it has created affordable housing, and in many of these projects, not only are the affordable units affordable, but the market rate units tend to be more affordable as well.
So it’s unfortunate that we have these headline grabbing quotes made, and that’s the perception that’s left in the reader’s mind. I would really welcome an opportunity to discuss this more.
Is there a level of corruption involved with the program? Is it indeed under-regulated, or under-observed by DHCD?
I can’t really talk about what’s happened in the past, and I have no knowledge of any corruptions, quite honestly. To even use that word, I think is so out of the context of what we’re talking about here. I can only say that the regulations out there needed some improvement, and that DHCD has done a tremendous job of taking a look at them, and tightening up the guidelines.
There have been figures thrown out there … (ed. note: the state’s IG clamed that of 1,118 total projects, only 135 submitted cost certifications) the truth of the matter is the vast majority of those 40bs that haven’t filed are undoubtedly because the projects are not done. I think everyone would admit that we have the bulk of 40b projects being done in the last several years. Particularly with the market downturn, the units aren’t sold; they’re not finished, therefore they’re not required to file the cost certifications. Going forward, there are some requirements, there’s surety involved, to make sure the project does file for its cost certification. But I really can’t speak to who, what or where. I’d welcome the ability to look at that type of list. HBAM is firmly on the side of making sure that cost certifications are filed, and that people are held accountable. Up until now, we don’t know who that is.
Why is the cost of housing still rising despite the recent real estate market decline?
After 30 something years in the business, [my husband and I] have seen codes get more stringent. That is understandable. We have an energy situation, we have an environmental movement, and for the most part, and as the president of the HBAM, I can tell you we understand that.
The National Association of Homebuilders has embraced the green building initiative, and we’re so very conscious of that. You look at the new homes today, and they’re extremely well built, they’ve got high energy efficiency, but all of that comes with a cost.
We recently had something called the Energy Stretch Code approved by the Board of Building Regulations and Standards, and by their own admission, that will add $10,000 to $12,000 to the cost of a home and that really depends on where that ends up. Even though the median prices have gone down, year to date – we’re back in the era of 2003 or 2004 as far as prices go – houses themselves are getting more expensive. Permitting is more expensive, and you have towns that put very steep user fees on their approvals, so housing in general is getting more expensive to build.
Are you concerned these increased costs are strangling job creation?
The economic impact of this decline has been overwhelming in real estate. Right now, the state unemployment level is at 8 percent. I would venture a pretty educated guess that in the construction industry, it’s more like 30 percent.
I once employed 25 people. I have eight. That’s not eight over the last year; for our industry, this recession has been going on for about three years. This is not something that happened in the fall of ’08; this has been happening steadily since really, sometime in late ’06. Over that period, the work has gotten less and less, and the impact on people has been extraordinary. When you think about how many people are involved in building a house, and the trickledown of homebuilding and remodeling, it’s really extraordinary. The amount of subcontractors, the suppliers … and beyond that, when you put a new development in, all the services in that town, from the coffee shop to the gas stations, it impacts so many people.
Judith Jenkins’ five favorite vacation destinations:
St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands – “Absolutely uncommercialized total relaxation.”
London – “I love the people. You just feel at home in London.”
Stowe, Vt. – “From Thanksgiving to April, we ski.”
Salt Spring Island, Vancouver – “My oldest friend lives there. It’s a sailing paradise.”
Arizona – “I love the look of Arizona. It’s the total opposite of New England. I love the colors, I love the desert, I love the cactus.”
