Press Room Article
Sunday, March 26, 2006 - 'Man With A Plan' By Tina Cassidy, Boston Globe Correspondent
When builder Michael McGough made his first real estate shopping expedition to hardscrabble Dix Street in Dorchester about 10 years ago, he walked a gantlet of sidewalk auto repairs before encountering prostitutes, junkies, and bags of trash in the apartment building he was checking out. But McGough saw beyond all that. He had a vision.
''I said, 'I'll take it!" McGough recalled recently, standing in the penthouse unit of another property he has since rebuilt across the street.
McGough's vision -- at least initially -- was limited to the project at hand: transforming the $200,000 building into decent rentals. Little did he know that the next decade of his life would become a mission to renovate Dix Street itself, dilapidated house by house, as the street's period architecture and Dorchester soul tugged at his heart -- and his wallet.
Almost single-handedly, the 37-year-old McGough has been transforming the wide street near Fields Corner from a strip of deteriorating Victorians that residents once patrolled with bats and guns into a ''Truman Show"-like place of elegant, landscaped properties attracting young professionals and giving longtime residents something to be proud of.
''There were people who were opposed to him in the beginning," said City Councilor Maureen Feeney, referring to worries about gentrification and increased density. ''But once they saw what he was doing, the quality of his work, that made a difference."
McGough, an executive board member of Carpenters Local 33 who grew up in South Boston, admires serious architecture. He said he believes the high-quality finished product is what has moved longtime residents to approve his many zoning requests, even if they were initially against the changes being wrought by someone from outside the neighborhood. (His wife, Ann, was born and raised in Dorchester.)
Now neighbors approvingly appraise McGough's efforts to restore the original look of the homes he's worked on, and his decision to keep intricate details of the era even when fancy trim had to be expensively replicated.
Indeed, one Dix Street couple was so impressed with McGough's work that they've asked him to redevelop their home.
John and Katy Miles are having McGough renovate the large single-family at No. 95, their home since 1984, into six condos, including one in which they will live.
''I know when I come back in August it's going to be so beautiful," John Miles said. The couple are staying at their home in Marshfield during construction.
For all his ability to swing a hammer, McGough, with his Southie blood, also knows how to work a street. From the beginning, he has been building relationships as much as condos -- sweeping during spring clean-ups, contributing to the neighborhood association, greeting the mail carrier, and bringing all the residents together to talk through his plans rather than trying to ram a project through City Hall.
''He doesn't just take from it," realtor Craig Galvin of Re/Max Marquis Group said of McGough's relationship with Dix Street.
McGough and his business partner, Douglas George, a lifelong Dorchester resident, knew they could make money on the gently sloping street. And they certainly have. (The first project was recently resold to a condo developer for $650,000.) Where some developers might just scout the classified ads looking for their next score at a bargain price, McGough has been more focused, knowing that each project he completes brings more improvement and more cachet to the street, and therefore more value to his work.
''Now it's a little mission," McGough said. ''If you asked me to build a Cape in Braintree, I'd say no."
McGough got his start as a developer in 1991 when he bought a South Boston two-family advertised as a ''handyman's dilemma" for $28,000. (The asking price was $25,000 but he was afraid of being outbid, despite the tree growing in the basement.)
''I was an amateur," he chuckled. ''But you can lose a good deal for a couple of bucks." He spent 18 months working nights and weekends. His parents live there now.
He then turned his attention to Dix Street, buying No. 83 around 1995 with no money down from an absentee landlord. The property is among the more modest on the street, clad in clapboard and painted green and beige.
''The very first day I took 30 yards of trash from the place," he said. ''Most people would have said, 'no way.' "
In 2003, McGough bought No. 91 and created three condos out of what was an enormous single-family owned by an older woman who hoarded flea market finds.
''The porch was falling off. The front was falling off. We restored it to look like it did originally," McGough said.
That $600,000 deal included a vacant lot next door, No. 87. In the spring of 2004 he built a property -- housing eight condos -- with the same historical features and a façade similar to others on the street. Priced between $325,000 and $350,000, the units sold and are all owner-occupied.
Then, in late 2004, a lawyer who owned No. 96, a vacant 14-room single-family home built in 1869, asked McGough if he'd be interested in buying it.
''I said, 'Sure.' "
As simple as that?
''As simple as that."
He paid $600,000 for that property, too, and began work last year, discreetly doubling the building's size with an addition on the back. All the condos have sold except for a large bi-level unit listed at $355,000. The 1,200-square-foot, two-bedroom penthouse is under agreement for $339,000.
Both units have granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, built-in wine coolers, gas fireplaces, tiled baths, in-unit laundry, and wood floors. The penthouse has a roof deck with an outdoor shower.
''It was a hot summer day when we were putting the deck down," McGough said. ''It's a nice little novelty."
There are also period-style ceiling medallions, sophisticated paint colors, deeded basement storage, off-street parking, and security alarms.
The current project is the Miles's home. McGough was hired to totally rehab the house and put on an addition to accommodate the condo conversion.
''We love this area and want to stay," John Miles said standing outside the now-gutted home, where he and his wife raised a family. By the time they return, McGough may be starting his next Dix Street project.
He's mum about the details, but has already made an offer on the property.
© Copyright 2006 Boston Globe Newspaper Company.
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