Photo courtesy of the John M. Corcoran & Company
Peter Mahoney
Executive vice president of development, John M. Corcoran & Company
Industry experience: 21 years
Age: 46
John M. Corcoran & Company is expanding its portfolio in Greater Boston’s multifamily market through a combination of acquisitions and opportunistic development projects. Under the direction of Peter Mahoney, the Braintree-based firm recently completed the first phase of Devon at Weiss Farm, a 26-acre site in Stoneham that includes 259 apartments and townhomes. On the development side, it’s pursuing a pair of projects totaling 870 units in Andover and Beverly, and a mixed-income redevelopment of two Chelsea Housing Authority properties.
Mahoney has worked his way up the rungs at the company over a 21-year career, starting in leasing and property management before taking on a development role. Founded over 70 years ago, the privately-held company owns properties totaling approximately 6,500 units in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, and another 14,000 units under management for other landlords.
Q: What is the company’s criteria for potential acquisitions?
A: In general, we are super geographically focused in New England and mostly in metro Boston. We are privately held. We partner with folks who want to do deals with us. We don’t have a fund. The acquisition front is going to be very different here, with rent control hanging out over things. We’re going to look at every deal and other opportunities, but I think we’re going to spend more time on our development side. [New construction] is exempt [from the proposed rent control law] for the first 10 years. Depending upon how the overall economy looks, you could produce a yield that could be attractive. Right now, there are buyer and seller expectations. There is always the gap that gets bigger and smaller over cycles, but we’ve done half a dozen deals since the pandemic. A good cycle for us is one or two under construction, one or two under permitting and one or two acquisitions.
Q: What is in your current development pipeline?
A: We have three deals in permitting. We just finished the major discretionary permits on Trask Lane in Beverly for 440 units. We’re trying to drive designs forward and identify a partner, and get in the ground by the end of the year. In Andover, we just acquired, with another local group, 100 Old River Road, a vacant office building, and filed permits for 430 apartments under the MBTA Communities act. We know Andover. We’ve been invested for 40 or 50 years there. It’s an excellent location. We partnered with Joseph Corcoran & Co. in Chelsea and just redeveloped DUO in Chelsea, which is 330 units. And under the same model, we were named developer after a request for proposals [from the Chelsea Housing Authority] to redevelop the Fitzpatrick and Prattville apartments off Revere Beach Parkway.
Q: How many more opportunities for multifamily developments in local office parks do you expect to materialize?
A: We’ve looked at a number of them. We’re maybe in the fourth or fifth inning. Most of the ones I’ve looked at have not been zoned [for multifamily]. Maybe half of them are going to office owners who think they can reposition them in some way.
Q: How is the lease-up performance at Devon at Weiss Farm in Stoneham?
A: We’re quite pleased. Like most good submarkets, there’s some competition. We delivered the first building in September, and we are plugging our way through the lease-up and hope to complete it by end of year. That includes three 5-story multifamily buildings, 12 townhouses and standalone clubhouse.
Q: What is the company’s disposition strategy?
A: Our default setting is we are long-term owners. When we have a partner who wants to exit, or has a maturity, we try to hang around through a recap or new debt with a new partner. We sold four deals last year, which was a lot for us. We are constantly talking when a partner wants to exit and groups that might want to join us in the investments. Over 75 years of owning multifamily in good locations has been a good strategy. It takes a while to get them permitted. If you have a good one, you want to hang onto it.
Q: What is your expectation for investment sales trends this year?
A: Deals are still going to come to the market. From our perspective at least, the pricing expectation from the seller is somewhat above where we think it is. If you’re underwriting with rent control in place, which is where our default setting is right now, there is a bit of a bid-ask gap that is going to result in less transaction volume this year.
Q: What characteristics are you looking for in properties when looking for acquisitions?
A: We’re going to keep looking, I just think we’ll have a harder time. There will be certain deals that need to trade for whatever reason. We bought one deal last year [at 929 Massachusetts Ave.] in Central Square in Cambridge. We liked the acquisition and we were able to close. The bid-ask gap is the concern.
Q: What are landlords doing to combat fraud in tenant applications?
A: Layers of screening and being more vigilant. You’re in a place where you’re holding vacancy and not compromising on your standards, because the amount of fraud that is out there is real. And it can be problematic if you don’t catch it. Third-party products help us screen applicants for fake addresses, fake Social Security numbers and fake pay stubs. In some cases, we’re reviewing an application three or four times before it gets passed.
Mahoney’s Favorite Winter Olympic Sports
- Ice hockey
- Biathlon
- Downhill skiing
- Bobsled
- Short track speed skating
