Condo Media - July 2014 - 34

VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

The Dartmouth Group
Partnering With Trustees to Provide Full-Service Property Management
by Pamela Schweppe

hat Aesop knew what he was
doing. The genius of his fables
was their ability to tell a story
that illustrated a larger truth.
The same might be said of The Dartmouth Group's success at The Green
at Shrewsbury, which tells the story of
how a management company working
in partnership with a board of trustees
can really turn a property around.

The board began interviewing property management companies who would
do just that. Among the firms they approached was The Dartmouth Group.
Founded in 1987 by Robert McBride,
who still serves as CEO, The Dartmouth Group is a full-service property
management company specializing in
condominium/residential communities.
Headquartered in Bedford, Mass., the
company today manages roughly 80 as-

Turning Over a
New Financial Leaf

The first issue to be tackled was the property's financial picture. It wasn't a pretty
one. A pair of loans topping out at close
to seven figures was draining the capital
reserve fund, and the previous board had
adopted a pattern of imposing a special
assessment every year, in addition to high
monthly fees. "Our No. 1 priority was
understanding our expenses and getting
The Backstory
in place a very firm and, in my
Located in the central
opinion, conservative budgetMassachusetts town of
ing process, so we wouldn't
Shrewsbury, The Green at
have to go back to 378 unit
Shrewsbury faced enorowners and ask for more
mous challenges back in
money," Rocheleau says.
the early days of this cen"The first thing we had to
tury. The property consists
do was match the needs of
of 378 residential units
the property with a realistic
housed in 35 buildings, as
financial plan that the unit
well as common areas that
owners would also accept,"
include a clubhouse, pool,
agrees Jim Stento, The
and fitness center.
Dartmouth Group's senior
A 10-year member of
vice president and controller.
the board, Dave Roche"Management and the board
leau recalls that "there
have to agree on goals and
New awnings, new paving throughout the complex, and a totally refurbished pool are just
were some pretty onerous
deadlines and make decisions.
a few of the improvements The Dartmouth Group has achieved, working in partnership
with the board of The Green at Shrewsbury.
challenges we faced" when
That doesn't always happen,
his board assumed the
but this is one where things
reins. Among these were an enormous
sociations, representing more than 9,000 really all clicked."
debt, staffing issues, and a tremendous
units, throughout the greater Boston
First came a review of all the operatamount of deferred maintenance on
area, from the New Hampshire border
ing costs within the budget - line item
a 40-year-old complex that was, as he
to Cape Cod and Rhode Island, and
by line item. "This is a large property
puts it, "nearing the end of life on some west to Gardner, Mass. Employing about with a large budget, and if you can recritical components," including building 100 full-time staff plus seasonal employally hone in on the expense line items,
exteriors, parking facilities, and general
ees, the company is well equipped to
you can do a lot of good for the owninfrastructure. "We had and continue to handle the full gamut of issues confront- ers and for the board," Stento says.
have a good board," he says. "We just
ing condominium associations.
Units at The Green at Shrewsbury
needed a partner who would look at the
In 2006, they were retained by The
are not individually metered, so gas
challenges we faced and work with us to Green at Shrewsbury, who put them to used for heat and cooking is part of
address them."
the test.
the overall budget. Not surprisingly,
34

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