Two BU Law Graduates Win Award for Interdisciplinary Affordable Housing Project
Alex Mooradian and Yareni Sanchez, both (’15), win third place in the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston’s competition for their project, “Perennial Court.”
Two BU Law Class of 2015 graduates, Alex Mooradian and Yareni Sanchez, were recently recognized in the Greater Boston Affordable Housing Competition, sponsored by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association, Kevin P. Martin, Icon Architecture, and the Boston Society of Architects. Mooradian and Sanchez were integral members of the team that won third place in the prestigious competition for their proposed project in downtown Malden, “Perennial Court.”
The competition, hosted by the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston, pairs teams of graduate students with affordable housing organizations to develop innovative and comprehensive proposals addressing the needs of those organizations. The only law students in the competition, Mooradian and Sanchez joined a team of Harvard students from the Kennedy School of Government and the Graduate School of Design, and were paired with the Asian Community Development Corporation.
The two BU Law students were mentored in the competition by Adjunct Professor of Law and Partner at Freeman Law Group LLC Peter Freeman, who offered to serve as a faculty advisor for any of the students in his Affordable Housing Law class who were interested in the competition. “This was a fantastic experience for my students, and I couldn’t be prouder of their work,” says Freeman.
The competition’s interdisciplinary nature proved extremely valuable to the students, and to the development of the project. “We had many fruitful conversations with our teammates that delved into a level of nuance only possible when joining forces with people of such diverse academic backgrounds,” says Mooradian. “We all shared an excitement for good, sustainable, affordable housing, and it was a great experience to hear about the many different techniques and considerations each person brought to the table based on their academic work and experiences.”
“I think that having a legal perspective helped our team in terms of feasibility, because we were able to ensure that our development could really be built and operated as proposed,” Mooradian adds. The resulting collaboration, Perennial Court, is connected with an actual site in downtown Malden, identified by the Asian Community Development Corporation as an ideal location for a potential affordable housing development.
“Our research revealed that the senior population was particularly vulnerable to development and economic shifts,” says Sanchez. “The share of people in Malden who are over 60 years old and living below the poverty line has increased from 12.2 percent to 16 percent since 2009, and the waitlist for public housing in the city currently stands at six years.” The team’s proposed solution is a 53-unit, 100 percent affordable senior independent living project that addresses the current community needs while also preserving affordability in the future through proximity to public transportation and long-term deed restrictions on the development in the eventuality of sale.
Mooradian and Sanchez provided legal and environmental sustainability analysis and recommendations, helped conduct interviews with community development experts and community members, and prepared a zoning memo for the rest of the team’s use. “The memo simplified the pertinent zoning code provisions and gave our recommendations for adequate zoning relief given the site constraints and our project goals,” says Sanchez. “I realized that work on other aspects of the project could not begin until we all understood what the maximum height on the lot could be, how many units we could propose for the lot, and what political opposition we might encounter with various zoning options.”
Mooradian and Sanchez also made significant contributions to the environmental sustainability of the site. “Alex and I had learned quite a lot about smart growth development through Professor Freeman’s class,” recalls Sanchez. “We used this knowledge as a base for learning more about environmentally sensitive design elements, and we worked closely with our teammates to propose certain elements that would ensure the project’s long-term environmental sustainability.”
Mooradian says that, in addition to the positive impact he hopes Perennial Court could have, one of the most valuable aspects of the competition was the opportunity of working with other young professionals in the field. “It would be a great pleasure to work with any of these colleagues and friends again, whether it be in a professional or volunteer capacity, to promote socially and environmentally sustainable housing,” he says.
In the fall, Mooradian will return to his hometown of Worcester, MA, where he will join Glickman, Sugarman, Kneeland, and Gribouski. “I hope to bringing what I learned through the competition back to my hometown community,” he says. “I look forward to bring the new perspectives I gained, both about the innovations and limitations of affordable housing, as I work with developers and community stakeholders in the future.”
For Sanchez, the experience made her recognize the importance of a legal perspective. “I realized how much other disciplines rely on the advice of attorneys, and how much responsibility attorneys have as advocates for critical housing needs,” she says.
Having grown up in an affordable housing development herself, Sanchez feels this responsibility keenly, and the competition provided her with an opportunity to have a hand in the creation of affordable housing in the Boston area. “It also allowed me to apply the knowledge that I had acquired through my coursework at BU in a real-world setting, as well as connect with affordable housing professionals in the Boston area.” Next year, Sanchez will continue to apply those skills, practicing real estate law at Goulston & Storrs.
Reported by Sara Womble (CFA ’14)