A fresh approach to mindful living.

The award-winning team behind Emerson Green has created some of the most innovative residential communities in New England.

The Team


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NOW Communities


Under the direction of veteran developer Dan Gainsboro, NOW Communities creates community-focused neighborhoods that emphasize sustainability and energy efficiency. The firm’s first major residential development, Concord Riverwalk, was an immense success – earning acclaim from planners, architects, and environmentalists alike, and generating tremendous demand for its cottage-style units. NOW Communities has been recognized with some of the architecture and urban development industry’s most prestigious awards, including Builder Magazine’s Project of the Year, the National Association of Homebuilder’s Community of the Year, and the American Institute of Architects’ New England Design Honor Award.



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Union Studio


Union Studio (formerly Donald Powers Architects) was founded in 2001 with the goal of making an impactful civic contribution to communities of all types through exemplary architecture and urban design. The firm served as the architects on the Concord Riverwalk project and received an Honorable Mention from the New England Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) for their work on the project. The Union team embraces a traditional, pedestrian-friendly approach to design featuring vibrant, beautiful spaces that help to enrich our communal and civic life.



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Ajax Partners


Ajax Partners is a team of dedicated and experienced real estate professionals assembled for the purpose of investing in and developing a multi-sector real estate portfolio. The team has extensive real estate experience accumulated through hundreds of project transactions with a value in excess of $10 billion. Ajax is committed to developing and managing assets in a sustainable way, and their team approaches sustainability with respect to the relationship between the economic, environmental, and social factors that affect a site, its occupants, and the surrounding community. The firm has been involved in numerous residential projects in the Boston metropolitan area as well as ventures in New York and Philadelphia.  Previous local projects include Brookside Mill, a 40,000-SF mill building in Westford, Mass., which was converted into luxury loft condominiums.


Dan Gainsboro
NOW Communities
Donald Powers
Union Studio
 

Our Communities

The team behind Emerson Green has created some of the most innovative residential communities in New England. As recognized experts in the creation of new traditional communities, NOW Communities and Union Studio have won a combined total of over 25 national awards including the National Association of Homebuilders’ “Community of the Year,” Builder Magazine’s “Project of the Year,” and Professional Builder Magazine’s “Project of the Year.” Click here to see Emerson Green featured on This Old House.



Communities Designed by Union Studio and Now Communities.


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Concord Riverwalk, Concord, MA

Riverwalk is a compact “pocket neighborhood” of 13 Net Zero possible homes, carefully designed with details and systems that enable energy-conscious residents to have all of their daily energy needs met by renewable, on-site solar collection. The market-rate cottages each feature 2 or 3 bedroom layouts and range from 1,340 to 1,760 sf. Building upon a site plan concept developed by celebrated cottage neighborhood planner Ross Chapin, Union was asked by the client to refine and expand the initial masterplan while developing the aesthetic and details for the Net Zero cottages themselves.

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In approaching the master planning process, Union Studio endeavors to connect, connect, and connect; to knit seamlessly with the community and to create walkable neighborhoods of residents, services, and institutions.

Awards

Union Studio’s team of designers have been nationally recognized for their unique approach to community planning and residential architecture.



A conversation with

Dan Gainsboro and Donald Powers

Don Powers and Dan Gainsboro, the leaders of the design and development team, sat down with Boston Globe reporter Kevin Dupont to discuss what makes their communities unique.



Let’s start by discussing your approach to creating a neighborhood
There is probably a small market at this point who are looking for net zero, right? That’s their entry point.
Did she tell you why she was in love?
I think some of this strikes me as what’s old is new again. Because, from my own aspect, I grew up in a town center so many of the elements that you’ve incorporated here are just what we had in a town center--this is passé now, but you’d walk to the meat market, the general grocer, the hardware store and the cobbler.
It’s a yearning.
Yeah, the lead architectural building was the garage.
It is, and I wanted to touch on that too. So it must be a challenge for you folks in terms of designing that you can’t target one market. So you’ve got to build these with the idea that it’s going to be some single professionals, it’s going to be some young married couples, it’s going to see couples with two kids and the dog, it’s going to be on the verge of empty nesters and beyond, correct?
What about the idea of not having enough privacy? Of a neighborhood being too social?
Exposed
How do you handle the interior space of a smaller home?
Sounds like, “Do more with less.”

Sales team

Knox Real Estate Group
William Raveis Real Estate and Home Services

Kim Knox


Joseph Knox


Deb Austermann
Patrice Chassagnade
Craig "Parky" Ogilvie
Haley Saarinen