Condo Media - September 2018 - 34

VENDOR SPOTLIGHT

Hopewell Farm

A Major Capital Improvement Project Succeeds Through Dedicated Teamwork
[by David J. Levy, PCAM]

For most board members-who are, after all,
volunteers-the planning and implementation
of a major capital improvement project can
be a daunting prospect. But, always, there is one
goal: to find a solution that will help the community
accomplish the project with the quality and financial
integrity that leave a positive, long-lasting legacy.
My company, Sterling Services of Holliston, Mass.,
manages a property whose board achieved that goal:
Hopewell Farm of South Natick, Mass.
The condominium industry's construction period
of 1983-1987 was so hot, it has been unmatched since.
That is the period when Hopewell Farm was built.
Its setting is a stunning piece of property, surrounded
by open meadows teeming with wildlife and offering
views of Boston from the top-floor bedrooms of some
of its impressive townhouses. Very few townhouse
communities can compare with its mix of lovely
inside living space and an inviting landscape of manicured areas and natural open land. It also helps that
the complex is located within 20 miles of Boston.
Hopewell Farm has seen many changes in board
members and managing agents since the mid-1980s,
and, like so many townhouses constructed from
wood 30 years ago, upkeep has been inadequate,
compounding the design challenges and installation
shortcuts that were common in the era it was built.
So, what started out in 2016 as a standard paint job,
with standard carpentry preparation, turned into an
envelope project on a grand scale that wasn't completed until this past summer.
STERLING SERVICES:
AN EXPERIENCED "CONDO SHERPA"
While it may be safe enough to hike on a short,
local trail without a guide, a hike up Mount Everest
requires the assistance of a Nepalese Sherpa who
understands the topography of the mountain and
what it takes to survive the climb. Similarly, when
undertaking a massive capital improvement project,
a condominium community should enlist the services of a highly experienced "Condo Sherpa" to handle

the property and project administration details.
That Condo Sherpa is instrumental in gathering the
team that will play critical roles in the ultimate solution. I am proud that Sterling Services played that
role at Hopewell Farm.
For this project, the stakes were high: the property
was considering a $100,000+ per-family project.
That is not a typo. Six digits per family was the
original bid for the scope of work envisioned by an
industry-leading engineering firm. (The final project
came in at a cost of about $40-$60K per family.)
As co-owners of Sterling Services, my wife Debbie and I temporarily reassigned the association's
property manager, so that we could be as active as
possible in the project. Debbie, who is a CPA and
the company treasurer, provided financial expertise,
creating endless funding models in order to find a
viable plan for modernizing the exterior. I assumed
the role of managing the project.
COUNTRYSIDE ESTATES:
CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT WITH A TWIST
As a property management professional for more
than 30 years (and former CAI-NE president,
way back in 1992), I knew that my first task was
to gather a team with the skills and experience to
handle the job. Based on my own experience, I knew
it was important to find an independent construction manager.
In this case, a custom solution was selected. Instead
of an existing condominium engineering firm, Sterling
recommended, and the board approved, an engineer
who owns a design-build company: Allen LeBlanc,
owner of Countryside Estates of Sudbury, Mass. Allen
is a second-generation builder. Because he now also
offers construction management support, I knew he
was the ideal choice. My logic, supported by the board,
was that, to avoid a conflict of interest,
a consultant could not also do physical work on a
property. With that caveat in mind, a design-build firm
can be a creative, and even elegant, solution to construction management for condominium associations.

Condo Media - September 2018

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