Photo courtesy of Josué Velney
Josué Velney
Founder and CEO, Velney Development
Age: 42
Industry experience: 16 years
A troubled renovation project prompted Josué Velney to pursue continuing education in construction management that helped launch his development career, followed by connections with major industry players including construction manager Suffolk, Boylston Properties and Jamaica Plain Community Development Corp.
Velney is splitting his development activity between his adopted home in Boston and his hometown in Somerville, where he recently received approval for a triple-decker infill project on Pinckney Street. In recent years, Velney Development has completed rental rehab and condominium conversion projects in Somerville, Medford, Charlestown and Roxbury.
Q: Did your development career start as an outgrowth of your work as a broker?
A: I came out of the Marine Corps in 2009. I did three combat tours, two of them were in Iraq. My third tour was with the Navy. From that, I made a hard decision and decided to retire from the Marine Corps, and had a job waiting for me as a firefighter in Somerville. During that time, we had a residency rule, so I purchased my first home. Then from there, as Boston’s an expensive market, I ended up buying in Springfield and built up a portfolio of 32 units. I got some experience there, and got my real estate license a few years later, spending half of the time with a property management firm in Springfield, and the other half with [Steve Bremish Team] in Somerville. That was my first experience as a real estate agent.
Becoming a real estate developer wasn’t even my target, but I started renovating in 2016, and it didn’t go so well. I realized there was definitely more to learn about the business, and I was going to night school for construction management at Wentworth. I had the real estate background from being a first-time homebuyer, being an investor, and then being a real estate agent and eventually a broker, and then from there I had the construction side. You sandwich those together, and you have a pretty good resume for small developments.
My wife is from Roxbury, so we moved to Roxbury and I started looking for a few more projects; I had a seven-unit project at 14 Alaska St. as a developer and contractor. From there, I got lucky, and somebody connected me with Suffolk Construction. They had a program for minority developers, minority contractors and veteran contractors. So that was why I believe Suffolk was interested in getting to understand how my company was operating and what we were doing.
From there, a couple more doors opened up. I have a joint venture project with Boylston Properties [18-22 Arboretum Road]. My company’s real focus now is that we’re a Somerville-based company, and we love Somerville. I grew up in Somerville and was a fire lieutenant in Somerville, so I get excited to do projects at home.
Q: How did Somerville’s citywide rezoning affect approvals for your triple-decker project at 32 Pinckney St.?
A: Somerville has rezoned, unlike Boston, which has a very, very old zoning map. We have rezoned, which has made things a little bit more simplified on our end. We have also been a little more aggressive as far as lot divisions, like separating lots, where now what you get is a lot of developers who can make the numbers work building a three-family in the front, and then building the ADU that you can still sell. They’re not limiting it that it has to be a rental, or or you have to sell. They give you that option. And to be quite honest, some of these ADUs are the same size as the single-family houses, and so one of the advantages that Somerville has done is to create that room for density.
Honestly, I think one of the keys in Somerville is to really work with a great team. We’ve used [architects] KDI and they do the bulk of the zoning and permitting in Somerville, so that was super helpful. Thirty-two Pinckney was a lot that somebody wanted to sell. They contacted us off-market, and we saw the opportunity, and we brought it to KDA. They put it on their zoning map and said, “Yes, we can do this.” We got approval within 60 days. It shows how the new zoning makes it a little more simplified, but also using a local architect is helpful.
Q: How else do you source sites and find under-the-radar development deals?
A: I’ve had my real estate license now since 2013, so my company has had that reputation that we’re looking at local projects. I’ve always had great partners. I’ve also joint-ventured with Callahan Construction, so my firm has great branding and marketing in that sense. My company was selected to do a few courses with The Builders Coalition and it was perfect timing, as my company was growing and starting to start looking at bigger projects. Real estate development is an interesting field. You get the sense that it’s really passed on from fathers or uncles to sons. You can have a finance degree, but it doesn’t mean you’re going to be able to figure out how to be a developer. You’re going to figure out what the problem is, and you’ve got to solve it, right? That’s just being an opportunist.
When you talk about the secrets of finding deals, and where I really get my energy in this business: It’s like it’s belly-to-belly, closing and understanding people. My first house, the real estate agent arrived late to the showing, and I had a Marine Corps license plate. The owner was in the Navy, so right there we built that relationship, like we were connected. From there it was like, ‘OK, how do we figure out how to close this deal together?’”
Q: In your brokerage role, how would you describe the spring homebuying market?
A: Somerville is always going to be a hot market. We don’t have enough inventory. We still have a lot of buyers who can afford those high prices. If you look back to 2008, when I was in a gun turret, it was one of those markets that didn’t go down when the recession happened. Assembly Square is amazing, and that wasn’t even there in 2008. There’s just a lot of improvements. Boston is a little bit different, only because there’s so many different neighborhoods, so you can’t put Boston in a box. It’s literally neighborhood by neighborhood. Most of my activity is in Roxbury, because that’s where I reside, and in the Jamaica Plain area, a little bit of Dorchester, but I’m not really going to Mattapan or Hyde Park.
Velney’s Five Favorite Places to Eat in Somerville:
- Leone’s
- The Neighborhood Restaurant & Bakery
- Davis Square Donuts & Bagels
- Ball Square Cafe
- The Smoke Shop BBQ
