Brownfields Redevelopment Fund
As of April 12, 2013, the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund is fully committed and not able to fund new requests. Please speak with a MassDevelopment representative about how we may be able to assist your project.
The Brownfields Redevelopment Fund was created in 1998 to encourage the reuse of brownfields in Economically Distressed Areas (EDAs) throughout Massachusetts. Brownfields are vacant, abandoned, or underutilized industrial or commercial properties where expansion, redevelopment, or improvement is complicated by real or perceived environmental contamination and liability. MassDevelopment administers the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund programs.
- The Brownfields Site Assessment Program – The Site Assessment Program provides unsecured, interest free financing up to $100,000 for environmental assessment of brownfields.
- The Brownfields Remediation Loan Program – The Remediation Loan Program provides flexible loans up to $500,000 for environmental clean-up of brownfields.
When your site is ready for redevelopment, MassDevelopment can provide a real estate loan or tax-exempt bond to finance your project. Our staff can also provide information on accessing other state, federal, and private-sector assistance and identifying Licensed Site Professionals.
In addition to the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund, other state brownfields programs that provide financing incentives include:
Brownfields Redevelopment Access to Capital Program (BRAC) – BRAC is administered by the Business Development Corporation of New England and offers low-cost, often state-subsidized, environmental insurance to help mitigate risk associated with brownfields redevelopment.
Brownfields Tax Credit Program – The tax credit program is administered by Mass DOR and offers eligible businesses and nonprofits a tax credit for the costs incurred to remediate contaminated property owned or leased for business purposes and located in an EDA. Tax credits may be used against state tax liabilities, or transferred or sold to third parties.
MassDevelopment worked with Wayside Youth and Family Support Network (Wayside), a human service provider to at-risk youth and families, for more than ten years. With a real estate loan from MassDevelopment, Wayside purchased a contaminated but spacious site surrounded by trees with the goal of building a new facility to consolidate residential programs, increase the number of children served, and provide state-of-the-art treatment facilities. Through the Brownfields Redevelopment Fund, MassDevelopment provided a $50,000 site assessment award and a $500,000 remediation loan to clean up the site. The construction of the new facility was financed by a $16.97 million tax-exempt bond issued by MassDevelopment and purchased by Middlesex Bank. Today, more than 70 children live at the residential facility.
