The developer of the Esplanade condominium complex wants to remove the "55-plus" age restriction because slow sales have made the project "uneconomic."
MP Development LLC has sold only 64 percent of the Main Street complex's 140 units in the four years since they hit the market despite exceeding its advertising budget.
Homeowners who already live at the Esplanade, who bought condos knowing their neighbors would share their senior status, have begun mobilizing after getting word from the developer earlier this month.
"We felt hit between the eyes when we got the letter," said Jackie Kapopoulus, who moved into a unit 2.5 years ago with her husband, Ernest. "We had no idea that anything like this was coming."
The developer is seeking an amendment to the comprehensive permit that the Hudson Board of Appeals granted to the Chapter 40B development in April 2004. Under state 40B regulations, projects can skirt certain zoning restrictions provided some units are designated as affordable.
In a March 5 letter to the board, a lawyer for MP Development said four different marketing and sales brokers have been hired to try to generate more interest.
"Sales revenue has not yet, however, even equaled the total development costs," wrote Joanne Foley, an attorney at Bingham McCutchen LLP in Boston. "The developer has tried everything to sell the units as age-restricted but without much luck."
Kapopoulos, the Esplanade condo owner, said the legal language in her property deed indicates the development is "55-plus" and does not appear to contain a clause for changing that.
"We have nothing against young people, but we want an over-55 living situation," she said, adding that she and other owners don't want children and teenagers added to the mix. "That's something we've been through, done that."
MP Development is a venture formed by Tony Frias of Hudson and Jonathan Kraft, president of The Kraft Group in Foxborough and son of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
Foley said MP Development would have no comment yesterday.
The developer will make a pitch at the Board of Appeals meeting on Thursday night. If the panel determines the proposal represents a "substantial change" to the permit, a public hearing would be scheduled for next month.
The Esplanade developer initially had trouble selling its 35 affordable units because asset limits prevented some potential buyers from qualifying for the below-market rates. Four affordable units are still unsold, Foley noted in her letter.
The market-rate condos at the Esplanade range in price from $250,000 to $300,000. The developers sold 34 units in 2005 and 40 in 2006, according to the town assessor's online datebase. The current broker, Dan Freeman of Metro Realty Corp. in Brookline, said he sold about 18 units last year.
The property is still controlled by the developer. Common ownership would shift to a condo association when 75 percent of the units are sold, according to Freeman. The developer is paying condo fees, which for most units is $150 per month, for all unsold units, he said.
A number of factors may be behind the sluggish sales at the Esplanade.
Hudson is home to three other 55-plus, or "active adult," housing developments: the 150-unit Villages at Quail Run, 66-unit Sconset Village at Sauta Farm and 150-unit WestRidge, which is under construction.
No government agency or industry group tracks sales of age-restricted housing, but many believe the market may be saturated despite demand from the state's "graying" baby boomer population. A 2005 report by the nonprofit Citizens' Housing and Planning Association identified more than 150 such developments in existence or in the works statewide.
"We're seeing some other 40B developers requesting a change to open occupancy. There's a few others," said Aaron Gornstein, the association's executive director. "I do expect more will be come in the near future."
Since the Esplanade was built, the housing market has headed south, so potential 55-plus condo buyers are having more difficulty selling their homes to start the "downsizing" process. The credit crisis has also affected lending.
The request to remove the age restriction at the Esplanade is not unprecedented.
In her letter to the Board of Appeals, Foley attached a recent case in which the state Housing Appeals Committee overturned the Hanover Zoning Board of Appeals' rejection of an age-restriction removal for a 74-unit complex with affordable units.
In Holden, a developer couldn't sell 48 age-restricted units at a country club so he asked the town to lift the limit. Holden agreed but only after the developer agreed to place a conservation restriction to prevent development of the golf course property.
(Greg Turner can be reached at gturner@cnc.com or 508-626-3909.)
