Innes Redevelopment Breaks Ground in Chelsea, MA

October 18th marked the day of the Innes Redevelopment groundbreaking in Chelsea, MA. 

All of the partners in the project and several elected officials came together to commemorate this momentous occasion on site. This project has been in the works for six years and everyone was elated to celebrate the next phase of this redevelopment. 

Master of Ceremonies 

Rendering of Innes Redevelopment

The afternoon kicked off with a master of ceremonies led by Jay Ash, President and CEO of Massachusetts Competitive Partnership. He was joined by several other partners and elected officials:

Tom Ambrosino, City Manager of the City of Chelsea

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley

Al Ewing, Executive Director of Chelsea Housing Authority

Mike Kennealy, Secretary for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Joseph Corcoran, President of of Joseph J. Corcoran Company

Peter Mahoney, Executive Vice President of John M. Corcoran & Company

Melissa Booth, President of the Innes Resident Association

All of the speakers conveyed a similar message with two important points. First, the unanimous hope that Innes will act as a catalyst for future redevelopment projects throughout the City of Chelsea. Second, the importance of the existing Innes residents. All of the residents who lived in Innes will receive the opportunity to return to live at the community upon completion to prevent displacement. 

Official Groundbreaking of Innes Apartments

Joseph J. Corcoran Company created the Innes Resident Association to work with existing residents every step of the way to best serve them in their new community. Melissa Booth was a resident of Innes for several years and she has played an integral role in giving the residents a voice throughout this process so they will have a place that they can be proud to call home when they return to their new and improved community.     

Melissa Booth, President of the Innes Resident Association

The Development team here at John M. Corcoran & Company is excited to take on this project in this joint venture with JJC and Marcus Partners. We cannot wait to fulfill the needs of the existing residents in addition to bringing on even more new residents as the property will consist of 330 brand-new apartments with luxurious amenities.   

Site Plan Rendering

TRIVIA: Which city in the United States is the largest producer of pumpkins?

10/7 Trivia Answer: Sarah Jessica Parker. She is the 10th great granddaughter of Esther Elwell who was an accused witch during the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.

JMC Addresses Energy Awareness Month

October kicks off Energy Awareness month! Here's the scoop from Jonathan Owens, the JMC Energy Efficiency Manager, on the company's most recent energy efficiency efforts. From solar power to EV charging stations, to water use monitoring, JMC constantly aims to reduce our energy expenditure and use across the portfolio.

JMC is currently working with consultants to launch solar projects across several different properties including Pelham Apartments, Academy Apartments, Brockton Commons, Village Green, and The Commons at Drum Hill. These solar projects will consist of applying Photovoltaic Solar Panels on the roofs where space is available. Why go solar? PV Solar is a renewable energy source. The energy made will not only reduce common area energy costs, but also reduce the cost of the system itself. A single 300-Watt solar panel offsets a carbon emission's equivalent exceeding that of ten mature trees! According to Jonathan Owens, our PV Solar project ambitions will result in carbon emission reductions equivalent to the work of thousands of trees. 

JMC continues to expand our electric vehicle charging station network. The funding allocated for incentives exceeded capacity in 2021 which put many of these charging station projects on hold for stakeholders across Massachusetts. However, JMC expects to hear of new incentives soon which will result in more charging stations in the near future. A new charging station has recently been implemented at the corporate office, check it out!

Jonathan Owens, Energy Efficiency Manager, in front of EV charging station in Braintree

We are also working with two different vendors to provide real time water use monitoring at our communities. Faxon Commons has a real time water meter installed in each of its buildings. The maintenance staff will be alerted in the event of a major water leak or even a smaller leak that can only be detected by a flow over time analysis. 

Faxon Commons

JMC is aggressively seeking emerging technologies and thinking outside of the box for ways to further reduce our carbon emissions across the portfolio. One option we are looking into is the possibility of obtaining energy from wastewater, a technology that is being utilized with success in Germany. 

Wastewater treatment process to obtain energy

Jonathan Owens stated that, "We have refreshed our commitment to benchmark energy and water use at all properties. By the end of this year, our goal is to make current all collected energy and water use data, so that we may evaluate these performance metrics for every property in our portfolio." JMC is constantly looking at various technologies and strategies to reduce cost and to improve our footprint on the environment. 

TRIVIA: Spooky season is upon us! Which actress from Hocus Pocus had an ancestor who was arrested for witchcraft in Salem?

9/23 Trivia Answer: 16