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Tamara Small
Title: Senior vice president, NAIOP Massachusetts
Age: 41
Industry experience: 18 years
Steve Adams
Tamara Small has been the commercial real estate industry’s leading voice on Beacon Hill in her role as senior vice president of government affairs for NAIOP Massachusetts. In January, she’ll continue that role in a new leadership position as CEO of the 1,700-member organization, succeeding the retiring David Begelfer. As part of a new joint leadership structure, NAIOP COO Reesa Fischer will become the firm’s executive director. Small, an Albany, New York native and Boston University graduate, worked for a New York City affordable housing trade organization before joining NAIOP in 2004.
Q: What would you consider to be NAIOP’s biggest wins from the recent Legislative session?
A: First we were very pleased to see the economic development bill, including provisions that bring more predictability and clarity to the railroad right-of-way process for development. It had been very confusing and time-consuming. We got that feedback from members and drafted the legislative fix, over the course of eight years worked with the Legislature and Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack. All kinds of development in the communities are affected, including transit-oriented. It’s not necessarily the sexiest issue but a good example of how our advocacy process works. There was a provision in the old statute that referred to land appurtenances and that phrase had never been defined. That phrase was eliminated, so it narrows the list of affected properties but also makes it a more seamless process.
On the other side, we were very pleased that the zoning bill did not pass this session. There was some spin that it was somehow good for development. It was actually an anti-growth bill that would have hurt developers, including reducing the scope of zoning freeze protections. It would have authorized the use of impact fees and mandatory inclusionary zoning without incentives. Somehow some of the advocates were trying to tie it together with the zoning reform bill and housing production. What was in that bill would have made housing development more costly.
Q: Where did you come up short?
A: We were sad to see the housing production bill supported by the governor did not make it through in the session because we had an incredibly broad coalition of all the business groups in the state and Massachusetts Municipal Association on board for the first time.
Some people said the bill didn’t go far enough. We would disagree. It was a significant change, eliminating the supermajority vote in situations that would have been pro-growth. Housing production and the need for more workforce housing is absolutely a top priority and that is something we’ll be looking to revisit in the next session.
Q: What convinced MMA to support it this time?
A: What they often find is there are projects that have the support of the planning board and community, but if they don’t get the two-thirds threshold at town meeting, it doesn’t happen. By reducing that to a majority vote, it was a change that helps projects that have community support. Their board recognized it was something the entire commonwealth could benefit from. It was a great opportunity to work together.
Q: At approximately 1,700, is NAIOP Massachusetts’ membership at an all-time high? Is the composition of the membership changing?
A: At 1,700 members, we are the largest organization in the entire NAIOP structure. It’s been pretty consistent: 60 percent are the owners and operators and investors, and the other 40 percent are the attorneys, brokers, engineers and architects.
Q: How do you anticipate the new leadership structure will work?
A: What’s exciting is it’s going to be a co-leadership structure. Reesa (Fischer) and I have worked collaboratively for many years. Reesa will oversee the finance and operations and programming. I’ll be overseeing government affairs and lobbying and public relations. Together we’re working on the big goals for the organization: strategic planning and taking the organization to the future. Our goals are looking at more customized, targeted offerings for members. We’ve found some of our smaller programs are in huge demand and finding ways to be a value to all members.
One of my personal goals is to get some of our younger people more involved. Sometimes it’s a challenge to get people interested in the policy work, but they can make a difference. If they encounter challenges on projects, they can make changes and make those happen. Technology is something we’re going to look at more and more.
Q: What do you see as the focus of your efforts as CEO?
A: We were extremely involved in the “Fix our T” campaign after the storms of 2015. We were strong advocates for the fiscal management control board. And we’re starting to see the results of that. Transportation is going to be a big one, whether it’s looking at congestion, or how the system can run the way we need it to. We have a climate change policy committee that was created this year and we were extremely supportive of the environmental bond bill that requires a statewide climate adaptation plan, vulnerability analyses for state agencies and how the public and private sectors can work together. Transit-oriented development is hot and that’s not going to change. We want to work with the state and the development community to make sure it’s a partnership.
Q: Has NAIOP taken a position on the timing of the MBTA’s West Station in Allston getting built?
A: We have not stepped in on that one. Certainly it’s a huge development opportunity. We’re watching it closely. It’ll depend upon what we hear from our members.
Small’s Five Favorite Bike Trails in the Northeast:
- Nashua River Rail Trail, Ayer to Nashua
- East Bay Bike Path, Providence to Bristol, Rhode Island
- Cape Cod Rail Trail
- Island Line Rail Trail, Burlington, Vermont
- Mohawk Hudson Bike Trail, Albany, New York
