Thomas E. McNulty
POSITION: President, Rhode Island Builders Association
BACKGROUND: Thomas E. McNulty was sworn in as president of the Rhode Island Builders Association on Oct. 3. He is president of his family’s business, E.A. McNulty Real Estate, in Cumberland, where he began working in 1996. The company was founded by his grandfather. Before joining the family business, McNulty had worked in high-tech sales.
EDUCATION: B.S. in business, Providence College, 1987
RESIDENCE: Cumberland
AGE: 41
Thomas E. McNulty has taken the helm of the nonprofit, nearly 1,500-member Rhode Island Builders Association at a time when the state ranks eighth in the nation for the cost of homeownership and last in the development of new housing units per capita. He spoke with Providence Business News about his agenda and the challenges his industry faces.
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
By Emilio DiSpirito IV License Partner | Engel & Völkers Oceanside Leader | The DiSpirito…
Learn More
PBN: What is the role of the Rhode Island Builders Association?
McNULTY: It addresses the shelter needs of the cities and towns throughout Rhode Island and nearby Massachusetts. … We want to support the building industry’s effort to enhance economic growth and quality of life in Rhode Island, [and] we want to promote the professionalism for all of those in the industry and our customers.
PBN: What are your goals for the organization?
McNULTY: I have basically five goals that I would like to really push forward. The first one is to expand our influence on legislation that affects builders and remodelers. The second is to continue efforts to promote the positive image of the construction industry and the builders in the minds of all stakeholders. …
Member education is certainly another of my goals. The current market conditions present a challenge and an opportunity for builders and remodelers, and it’s a good opportunity for our members to take a look at how they’re running their businesses. We’re trying to offer classes . …
The fourth is forming coalitions. We recently have partnered with some of the other statewide associations … to work as a team as items come up that have an impact on the industry. We’re trying to broaden our reach.
And the last [goal] is to continue to protect the builders’ interests in our cities and towns. … We’ve taken on some cities and towns with some legal action, so we want to be a watchdog.
PBN: What trends are you seeing in the building industry?
McNULTY: I think there’s a large trend toward inner-city redevelopment, and on the suburban front, there’s been the conservation development focus.
PBN: Do you also see larger houses being built on smaller lots?
McNULTY: Yes, we are seeing that. The land that’s available to build on is limited, so people are making concessions. As the land availability has decreased, people have accepted smaller lots for their homes. The towns and cities have gone on a limited-growth type of platform, so that ultimately limits the amount of buildable lots that come online.
PBN: How does that affect builders?
McNULTY: If you get involved in the process of putting a new subdivision in, you have to go with the regulations. That’s the rulebook that we have to follow, so you just grin and bear it. But some members are saying, “That’s not something I want to invest my capital in. I feel it’s too lengthy a process” … and they may venture into other parts of the building business – remodeling or doing redevelopment work. … But if you’re going to stay and develop conventional subdivisions, you need to expect to have a lengthy approval process.
PBN: Have you been seeing many people veer away from development?
McNULTY: Certainly I think people have decided to do projects that are welcomed and that they don’t have to fight City Hall, so to speak. But a lot of our members own land, and that’s part of their resource base, and they have to [fight].
PBN: Is inclusionary zoning helping builders provide affordable housing?
McNULTY: The revised low- to moderate-income permit language – I don’t see it generating a lot of affordable housing. … There’s not much of an incentive for for-profit builders to place affordable housing, based on the negative economics that present themselves in some instances. … It’s very difficult to build affordable housing with the regulations we have to adhere to.
PBN: Don’t many towns and cities give a density bonus for including affordable housing?
McNULTY: That’s the area we feel is not sufficient. There’s not enough of a density increase to offset the cost of incorporating the affordable homes into the development. The trick with these is, you want to build these neighborhoods so that the affordable ones are indistinguishable from the market-rate units. In order to do that, you have to maintain an architectural consistency. … Interior elements can be adapted, but the exterior needs to have a scale and a mass that makes sense, that blends, so that you can sell the market-rate units.
PBN: What do you think would have to be done for affordable housing to be economically feasible?
McNULTY: Primarily, there needs to be more consideration for density. What that number is, I think, is site-dependent. Each site offers its own challenges, and you would have to develop some kind of formula that makes sense between the builders and the communities.
PBN: What do you think needs to be done to ease the process of building new developments?
McNULTY: As we move forward with any of the housing planning, it just can’t be exclusively inner-city redevelopments. I think we need to look at all areas. We see the consumer, and they want housing choices, and certainly one of the choices they would like is in a suburban area in a new home with a yard to play, to garden and to relax in. And having school-age kids is not a bad thing. Maybe we need to look at how we fund education in this state. … The problem is really the way it’s funded by the local property owner, and maybe that should be revisited … because that’s what gets the administrators and managers of these towns and cities concerned about new growth – how it affects their schools.
