Grant Programs

Year-round Opportunities

Businesses and organizations can submit applications for the following opportunities year-round to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Brownfields Redevelopment Fund

Finances the environmental assessment and remediation of brownfield sites. Eligible applicants include municipalities and their agencies, CDCs, EDICs, EDAs, and certain nonprofit organizations, undertaking a project with a demonstrable public benefit with an identified development opportunity and a committed developer in place. Awards of up to $250,000 in site assessment funding, and/or up to $750,000 in remediation funding are available.

Cultural Facilities Fund

Administered jointly with the Massachusetts Cultural Council, this program is an initiative to increase public and private investment in cultural facilities that are 501(c)(3) organizations engaged in the arts, humanities, or interpretive sciences. Three types of grants are available:

1. Capital Grants for the acquisition, design, construction, repair, renovation, and rehabilitation of a cultural facility.
2. Feasibility and Technical Assistance Grants for the planning and assessment of a cultural facility.
3. Systems Replacement Grants for 20-year capital needs assessments of buildings and mechanical systems.

Eligible facilities include:

• Museums
• Historic sites
• Zoos
• Aquariums
• Theaters
• Concert halls
• Exhibition spaces
• Classrooms
• Auditoriums

Additionally, these facilities must be:

• Owned, leased, or used by one or more nonprofit cultural organizations; and
• Accessible to the public.

To be eligible, public, or private institutions of higher education that own cultural facilities must:

• Provide service and direct access to the community and the public beyond their educational mission; and
• Demonstrate financial need.

To be eligible, facilities owned by municipalities must be at least:

• 50% devoted to cultural purposes.

All grants require a match by contributions from the private or public sector.

Community Health Center Grant Program

Provides grants of up to $50,000 to community health centers in Massachusetts for infrastructure projects, which include construction, renovation, equipment, furniture, and technology-related projects (including training). All licensed community health centers in Massachusetts are eligible to apply on an annual basis.

Pilot Family Child Care Facilities Grant

The Family Child Care Facilities Grant is a competitive program run in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC). Grants can be used for projects that are “fixed and integrated” into the physical environment and are critical for helping the provider meet the following objectives:

• Increase enrollment up to the provider’s current licensed capacity.
• Enable providers to increase their current licensed capacity.
• Meaningfully improve the quality of care and education that can be provided in the program’s physical space.

What makes a good project? 

• Have an active license from the EEC or actively be in the license renewal process with EEC.
• Be in regulatory “good standing”. Good standing is defined as having no investigations with serious findings, and no legal actions within the last five years. 
• Have been actively providing licensed childcare for a minimum of two years prior to the application submission date. 
• Operate a minimum of four days per week. 
• Operate their childcare program out of a home that they own, outright or with a mortgage. Information for first-time homebuyers.
   

Awarded funds cannot be used for administrative overhead and costs, salaries, staff time or payroll, mortgage payments or rent, utility costs, insurance, or any other operating or working capital costs.

For technical assistance, contact the Help Desk at 833-600-2074 or email eecgrantsupport@mtxb2b.com. 

Community One Stop for Growth

MassDevelopment manages several programs that are part of the state’s single application portal and collaborative review process of community development grant programs – making targeted investments based on a development continuum. Developers, nonprofit partners, and municipalities can apply for funds to advance projects that address housing shortages, eliminate blight, and stimulate local economies.

Underutilized Properties Program

Targets underutilized, abandoned, or vacant properties.

What makes a good project?

A good project provides public purpose in one or more of the following categories: creating jobs, driving innovation, eliminating blight, increasing housing production, supporting economic development projects, increasing the number of commercial buildings accessible to persons with disabilities, conserving natural resources through targeted rehabilitation, and/or reuse of vacant and underutilized property owned by the applicant.

While a particular application may not satisfy every criterion, application review is based on the totality of the facts and circumstances. Review criteria assesses the likelihood that the use of the requested funding will advance a project towards increased public benefits:

• Clarity, Purpose, and Users of the Space
• Ecosystem Analysis and Partnerships
• Goals of the Project
• Economic Impact
• Project Execution

Brownfields Funding

Available to municipalities seeking environmental assessment or remediation of municipally owned or controlled sites without an identified developer.

What makes a good project?

Environmental site assessment or remediation activities provided with the help of the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund can benefit a blighted and/or vacant site, controlled by the community, which has the potential for redevelopment – eventually returning the site to a property tax producing asset for the community.

Site Readiness Program

Aims to increase the state’s inventory of large, well-located, project-ready sites; to accelerate private-sector investment in industrial, commercial, and mixed-use projects; and to support the conversion of abandoned sites and obsolete facilities into clean, actively used, tax-generating properties.

What makes a good project?

Funding from the Site Readiness Program is meant to support a municipality’s efforts to support new, large-scale private development that can result in direct economic impact to the community in terms of new commercial, industrial, or mixed-use development. Projects that result in at least 50,000 square feet of commercial, industrial, or mixed-used development are most competitive.

Real Estate Services

Advances local economic development goals in cities and towns across Massachusetts – enabling municipalities to explore the development potential of key properties, address streetscape and infrastructure needs, and plan for growth.

What makes a good project?

Proposals must represent the redevelopment of public surplus property or district redevelopment planning. 

Public Surplus Property

Public surplus property projects help a community find a new use for a property that results in redevelopment and accomplishes one or more of the following goals: 

• Attract or retain jobs.
• Create housing.
• Assist historically disadvantaged communities.
• Advance smart growth.
• Planning and predevelopment to a point where the private sector invests in the project.

Project examples:

• Site Concept Plans and Market Feasibility Studies - Including feasibility and planning studies in addition to concept-level master planning.
• Request for Proposals / Qualifications - Development of materials to support the municipality's disposition process and the analysis of proposals to support their decision. 

Future municipal use planning is not an eligible use of funds. However, if the future use is still to be determined, we can help explore other reuse options through community engagement activities.

District Redevelopment

Early-stage projects to spur economic development activities within a commercial, industrial, or mixed-use district to accomplish one or more of the following goals:  

• Attract or retain jobs.
• Create housing.
• Assist historically disadvantaged communities.
• Advance smart growth.
• Planning and predevelopment to a point where the private sector invests in the project.

Project examples:

• District Redevelopment Strategies
• Corridor Studies
• District Improvement Financing (DIF) 

To be competitive, a district should have public surplus property and/or underutilized property within the area.

Collaborative Workspace Program

Designed to accelerate the pace of new business formation, job creation, and entrepreneurial activity by supporting infrastructure that funds community-based innovation. 

What makes a good project?

Applicants should demonstrate an established connection to users and show that the proposed space will fill a clear gap in the market. Submissions should highlight how a specific community of users will benefit and outline future programmatic plans.

Seed/Feasibility Grants

The maximum amount for a Seed/Feasibility Grant is $15,000 for predevelopment costs including feasibility studies and design work. 

Fit-Out Grants

The maximum amount for a Fit-Out Grant is $100,000 to purchase materials and pay for third-party labor for workspace improvements.

• To be eligible for a Fit-Out Grant, you must be a building owner hosting a collaborative workspace or an operator of a collaborative workspace registered with the Secretary of State.

Applicants must match the grant amount. Grants may not be used for administrative overhead, staff time/payroll, legal fees, operating costs, etc. An applicant can apply for one or the other grant, but not both, in the same application round.