A) No, they were the leaders at least in Boston and to some degree nationally in advancing the concept of master-planned industrial parks. Other people can take credit for advancing it to the office parks, like Wellesley Office Park, in the early '60s and '70s.
Q) Marshall Field of Chicago bought CC&F in 1978, and it became a less-active player in Boston. What changed since you bought it two years ago?
A) What we've been trying to do is take the core skills of the company, which are land assembly, site identification, project planning and permitting, and [building space for] office and research and development, and grow it into mixed-use development, including retail. We tend to redevelop in areas that are already heavily developed. We've been doing much of this through partnerships with other developers.
Q) Is it difficult to go forward with a multifamily housing development like Charles River Landing in an upscale suburb like Needham, when everybody knows residents don't want all those new neighbors?
A) It varies a little by community. It is always challenging. We spend 70 percent of the time talking about traffic, and what time we don't spend on that we talk about school children. Those are the only two issues that matter.
The core is people's fear you will introduce a number of new school-age children. Highly developed and quality school systems -- they're the pride and joy of those communities, and every year is now a challenge. They say, "Whatever you say, I don't believe you." To earn credibility with them is far harder than it used to be.
Q) You and The Commonfund bought 137 acres in Westwood to create a multi use mini city, Westwood Station, with the retail done with Stephen Karp of New England Development. How did you keep people from raising their asking prices after word got out you were in "buy" mode?
A) We moved very aggressively. We started with an old CC&F asset, the General Motors building. There was a significant and chronic vacancy in a number of buildings. There were five or six key owners, and in the end we purchased from about a dozen.
In a period of about six months, we were able to obtain contracts for most of the properties. We felt we were able to obtain fair prices. We didn't set out under that clear vision we were going to get about 140 acres. As we invested in each parcel, the momentum kind of grew. We were able to make a blitz of a commitment. It was really full time -- nights, evenings, and weekends. Actually, my family is very aware of what I do professionally and very supportive.
Q) What makes you think a 4.5 million-square-foot development with big retail, shops, and restaurants and a sort of manufactured main street -- where there's nothing much today -- is going to be a place where people are going to want to live?
A) People tell me they want to live there. That's one pretty good indicator. One thing we'd like to be doing better is have a clear marketing program under way for residential. There seems to be a strong preference from many people for owning condos, even in this market. Westwood's first phase is 450 units above retail.
Q) What's the biggest difference in the real-estate development game today compared to when young Jay Doherty got out of college in 1975?
A) We're kind of writing the book as we go along in this mixed-use, smart-growth development. You're in a fast-evolving field. "Shared parking" is mind-boggling, how much time you have to spend figuring it out, with a restaurant here, a store here, a residential unit over there. How many parking spaces are you going to need?
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