ABOUT US
History of the Fensgate
The Fensgate is a five-story masonry building located at 73 Hemenway Street near Westland Avenue in Boston, MA.
The building, constructed between 1903 and 1905, was designed by a prominent architect of the time, Guy Lowell, for Henry Bigelow Williams. Mr. Williams was the owner and one of the original occupants of the building. Guy Lowell also designed the nearby Museum of Fine Arts, several buildings at Simmons College, and the Fenway Gates in the park next door. It was originally five Paris-type flats consisting of seventeen rooms each. Its original address was 56 The Fenway and it was commonly known in the early 1900s as "Fenwaygate." When H. B. Williams died, R.H. White, a Boston department store magnate, purchased the property and resided here.
In 1923, the building was acquired by the City of Boston and converted from private residences to the Girls Trades High School. In 1972, the building became the Fenway Little City Hall, a part of Mayor Kevin White's program to "bring City Hall to the neighborhoods." By the early 1980s the White administration had begun phasing out this program.
In 1982 the building was declared surplus by the City, and in 1983 the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Boston Public Facilities Department sought proposals to develop the building as mixed income housing. The sponsors submitted separate development proposals to the City and subsequently negotiated a joint venture to develop the building. EAch of the proposals included cooperative ownership as part of the plan.
Between 1986 and 2004 the building was jointly owned by The Fensgate Cooperative Corporation, the Fenway Community Development Corporation, and 58 limited partner investors. In March 2004, the Fensgate Cooperative Corporation acquired the property, which is now a full fledged housing cooperative under IRS rules. The cooperative business is run by a seven member board elected by its membership.
In 1987, the Massachusetts Historical Commission named the building as an outstanding example of historic preservation.
The original features of the building (many of which still exist) include a formal grand staircase between the first and second floors, an intricately carved chapel with a huge Aeolian player organ on the fifth floor, leaded glass windows, and 50 fireplaces.
This history borrows from pieces written by Matt Thall and Sherrie Lookner, both members of the Fensgate Cooperative.
What is a cooperative?
A housing cooperative is a corporation which owns real estate. The stockholders of the corporation are the residents of the housing owned by the corporation, and are 'members' of the cooperative. Each member is involved in the management and decision-making about the cooperative's real estate through the election of the cooperative's Board of Directors and voluntary participation in various committees that advise the Board and deal with detailed aspects of policy. The resident stockholders do not own their individual apartments, but are rather tenants of the cooperative. Thus there are elements of owning and renting in cooperative housing. Generally, the best features of each are found in cooperatives.
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Ownership features include control by the members of their monthly housing maintenance costs, selection and oversight of the property manager, approval of new members of the cooperative and growth of each member's equity in the cooperative.
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Rental features include responsibility by the cooperative, rather than the individual occupant, for maintenance within apartments, and (usually) lower real estate taxes than condominiums.
Within this broad description there are many variations in how cooperatives are structured. Fensgate is structured as a limited equity cooperative.
What is a limited equity cooperative?
In a limited equity cooperative, the value of each member's stock shares is restricted by a formula. That is, when the co-op member sells their shares, they may not receive "whatever the market will bear" but rather an increase related to annual increases in the cost of living. Thus the appreciation in the value of the co-op stock shares is limited.
The reason for this structure is to insure that during the existence of the cooperative, the housing will continue to be available to households in the same relative economic position as the original occupants. This not only serves the important social objective of maintaining long term affordability in housing, but also tends to prevent the character of the cooperative from being changed by newer members who are much more wealthy than the original members.
The other reason this type of cooperative is referred to as "limited equity" is that membership price (or equity) is considerably lower than the down payment a home buyer, or condominium buyer, would have to pay in strictly private market housing.
Limited equity cooperatives are ideal for people seeking good shelter with long term security of housing costs. They are not particularly good for those who see their housing as a speculative investment opportunity.