$2.5M for Lighthouse's Move to Gateway City Arts

MassDevelopment issued a $2.5 million tax-exempt bond on behalf of LightHouse Personalized Education for Teens, Inc. (LightHouse Holyoke), an innovative nonprofit school serving both private and public school students in grades 6-12. The organization is using bond proceeds in addition to proceeds from its ongoing capital campaign to buy a three-building complex at 92 Race St. in Holyoke formerly known as Gateway City Arts, a portion of which will serve as a new home for the school. LightHouse Holyoke plans to increase enrollment to serve as many as 160 students at the new location in the coming years, as well as welcome additional young adults ages 16-24 as Production Academy students and interns. The tax-exempt bond, purchased by Greenfield Cooperative Bank (GCB), helped LightHouse Holyoke achieve a lower cost of capital. MassDevelopment previously supported the Gateway City Arts complex: in 2017, the agency awarded a $165,000 grant from the Collaborative Workspace Program to increase accessibility and flexibility in the complex by replacing the former freight elevator with an ADA-compliant passenger elevator.