Name: Andy Montelli

Title: Founder, Post Road Residential Inc.

Age: 57

Experience: 31 years

After working as an executive for large multifamily developers Trammell Crow and Fairfield Residential, Andy Montelli set up shop with his own firm, Post Road Residential Inc. Since its founding in 2011, the Fairfield, Connecticut company has developed four residential complexes in Connecticut and two in Massachusetts totaling nearly 1,900 units. The newest: the 286-unit Pioneer apartment complex, which recently broke ground on the former Boston Harley-Davidson dealership property at 1760 Revere Beach Parkway in Everett.

Q: Why was it the right time in 2011 to form your own development company?

A: I’d worked for other people for 25 years and I thought I’d gotten good at what I was doing. It was time to take a shot and start a company that was focused on doing really great urban development projects. There was an opportunity to do something a little bit different. We decided to take the opposite approach as the big development companies that focus more on production. I thought there was a different model, creating projects that were memorable and good investments for our partners. And that’s worked out really well.

Q: What did you like about the Pioneer site in Everett? Was the MBTA Silver Line Extension a factor?

A: We had just finished the Batch Yard in Everett and it was just a tremendous success. We leased 328 units really quickly and we showed if we built a great product, customers would come to a place that they hadn’t previously considered. This “Fermentation District” that’s popped up is another thing that’s given Everett more visibility among our customers, so we started looking for a follow-up project.

This site was just ideal for us. It’s the size and density we liked, and a 5-minute walk to a new Silver Line station, which is a game-changer for that part of Everett and Chelsea. So we took a shot on it. We think it’s going to be one of the best urban communities of its kind.

With the Batch Yard, 80,000 cars pass it between Routes 16 and 99 and there were some beautiful condos that had been built previously as part of the campus. We’d see people dressed in suits and hospital scrubs at a bus stop in front of the condo project. We thought we could market the bus as an acceptable form of public transportation. And that was true. There are 50 customers from Batch Yard commuting to Boston via the bus.

Q: You’ve worked with Daren Bascome of Boston branding agency Proverb on several of your projects. How important is a distinctive theme for each property?

A: Branding is our secret weapon. Look at farm-to-table restaurants. They’re publicizing which farm grew the greens, which dairy produced the cheese. People care about these things now. Why wouldn’t they have the same interest in where they live and the history of what was there and the story behind it?

Daren at Proverb helped us tap into those stories and create communities that are more authentic. So many people are trying to find generic names to apply to each of their communities across the country and trying to create company brands. We’re not into that. We think it’s more important to create brands that are centered around each community.

Q: What’s the story behind the Pioneer name?

A: The Pioneer is about discovery. It’s about exploring a new area and finding things that you didn’t know were there before. Our tagline is: “You can’t discover what you haven’t explored.” It’s also a nod that the guys who founded Everett landed right around this site.

Q: Do you see a similar effect to the Silver Line Extension in Connecticut with the recent activation of the CTfastrak and next year’s plans for the New Haven-to-Springfield commuter rail service?

A: We’re looking to where our customers want to be. Connecticut doesn’t have that sort of transit mentality. Aside from Metro-North, we don’t really have a great series of transit nodes. In Connecticut, you tend to look more toward job centers and near retail amenities. Those have become two of our most important indicators about whether a site makes our cut or not. If we can find those sites, even if they’re brownfields, we’re interested in them.