MassDevelopment Secures $50 Million in Federal Tax Credits to Encourage Private Investment in Distressed Communities

June 17, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Kelsey Abbruzzese, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2086 & 617-448-9077 (cell)
kabbruzzese@massdevelopment.com

The U.S. Treasury Department has allocated a $50 million allocation of New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) to MassDevelopment that will allow the agency to secure tax credit equity from investors that will close financing gaps and make new private development projects viable in economically distressed communities of the Commonwealth. 
  
MassDevelopment was one of 263 applicants competing for $3.5 billion in tax credit allocations. Of these applicants, 76 were successful nationwide, and MassDevelopment was one of only three recipients in Massachusetts. 

“MassDevelopment has used New Markets Tax Credits, which have funded everything from community health centers to mixed-use commercial and retail space, to deliver capital where it is most needed,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones.  “Businesses, nonprofits, and other institutions have leveraged the tax credit equity for construction and renovation projects in low-income communities, which have created jobs and expanded services to residents. We thank the Massachusetts congressional delegation for supporting the New Markets Tax Credits program and the U.S. Treasury for its continued faith in MassDevelopment through this allocation.” 

The U.S. Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which administers the program, estimates that since the program’s inception, New Markets Tax Credits have created nearly 600,000 jobs and have supported the construction of more than 160 million square feet of retail, manufacturing, and office space. MassDevelopment New Markets LLC has received five prior NMTC allocations totaling $216 million. The agency has used its allocation to fund major redevelopment projects at the Joseph M. Smith Community Health Center in Boston, YMCA of Fall River, the Enterprise building in Brockton, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette building in downtown Worcester, and High Point Treatment Center in Middleborough.   

MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2014, MassDevelopment financed or managed 314 projects generating investment of more than $2.9 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create more than 6,300 jobs and build or rehabilitate more than 1,600 residential units.