SOUTH SHORE INSIDER: Builders’ local voice

By Sara Castellanos

The Patriot Ledger

Posted Nov 18, 2009 @ 02:11 AM

CANTON —

The home building business has faced numerous challenges in the past decade, but Judy Jenkins said she doesn’t regret a moment of the 30-plus years she’s worked in the industry.

Jenkins, 61, is the president of the Home Builders Association of Massachusetts, a nonprofit trade association that consists of more than 2,000 builders, developers, remodelers and suppliers in the residential construction industry. As president of the trade group, her main duty is to educate people about the importance of continuing to build homes in the state.

Jenkins is also the vice president of CAN-FOUR Corp. in Canton, a developer of residential and commercial properties. She and her husband, William, started the business in 1978; they currently live in Canton.

Jenkins, who is originally from New York, worked for the First National Bank of Atlanta and then as a real estate broker before owning her business.

What is the current state of the home building industry?

It has become much more difficult to be a home builder. The regulatory changes have been immense and it’s really one of the main contributing factors to the cost of homes in the state of Massachusetts. Regulations include zoning rules, wetlands regulations, endangered species rules, and energy efficiency rules. Regulations have always been around. It’s just that they’ve been getting more restrictive over the years.

Massachusetts is in the top four most unaffordable places to live in the country along with San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. I don’t think anyone set out to have that happen, but when communities go to large-lot development, with a minimum of one acre or two acre zoning, you can only put an expensive home on that piece of property.

That’s why the state’s affordable home statute, Chapter 40B, is such an important tool in this state. That says that every town has to have 10 percent of its housing stock in homes that can be sold to people making 80 percent of the median income. If they don’t do that, they need to allow 40B communities to be built in that town. It’s been a hard statute for towns to embrace and accept, but since it’s been on the books since 1969, almost 30,000 units of affordable housing have been built.

What was the industry like when you first started your company?

Land was more affordable. Some regulations were still in place (but not as many). You had so many zoning options and so you had a variety of homes for a variety of incomes. Our first homes in Canton were selling for $29,900. That same home today would resell in this town in the $400,000s. The zoning has changed depending on the town. The average lot size throughout the state may in fact be an acre or more. The cost of land proportionate to what you can build has really gone up.

How has the recession affected your industry?

This is the most challenging time I have seen in over 30 years in the housing industry. And I have been through a number of recessions before. I’ve seen it have a devastating effect on many of the member companies of the Home Builders Association of Massachusetts. They’ve downsized, they’ve cut back in every single way they possibly can, but we’re all in this together; we’re all struggling to get through it. The housing industry has an incredible impact on the economy of a state.

Not only do the companies that build or remodel employ people and borrow money, but there are thousands of things that go into building a house, and when you build a new community in a town, now you’ve started impacting businesses in that community. More people go to the dry cleaners, more people go to the local restaurants, more people go to the local gas station.

The ripple effect of getting housing going is immense. Yet it doesn’t seem to be recognized in this state. There seems to be a misconception that every builder, real estate developer and remodeler became millionaires because of the price increases. That couldn’t be further from the truth. People might say housing led us into (the recession), but clearly housing has the capability of leading us out of it as well.

What are your future goals as president of the HBAM?

My goals are to continue to promote the association and encourage people in the building industry to get back involved in the association. It’s a very difficult time for everyone. My hope is that we’re at the bottom, and I choose to see a better day.

Sara Castellanos may be reached at scastell@ledger.com.