MassDevelopment.com: Press Room: MassDevelopment Financing Package Supports Fenway Community Health, Inc. Expansion in Boston

MassDevelopment Financing Package Supports Fenway Community Health, Inc. Expansion in Boston
New Headquarters Will Be Largest LGBT Health Care Facility in Nation
December 29, 2006

Contacts:
Alicia Tildsley, MassDevelopment, 617-603-3120
Chris Viveiros, Fenway Community Health, 617-927-6342
Ellen Molle, Sovereign Bank, 617-757-5573

MassDevelopment and Sovereign Bank today announced a $20,000,000 financing package for Fenway Community Health, Inc. (Fenway). Provided through MassDevelopment’s New Markets Tax Credit program, the low-cost loan is funded by tax-credit equity from Sovereign Bank and debt provided by private sector investors. Fenway Community Health is using the funds, along with additional private funding and contributions from an ongoing capital campaign, to construct a new $55.5 million headquarters in Boston’s West Fens neighborhood. When finished in spring 2009, the expanded facility will enable Fenway to serve three times as many individuals and families as they can accommodate now, while over time adding more than 150 new jobs.

"Fenway Community Health is a critical contributor to the overall health and well-being of thousands of Boston residents," said Robert L. Culver, MassDevelopment president/CEO. "It’s an organization that has served the Fenway community for more than 35 years, and we are extremely pleased to have a hand in arranging this important financing package. The beauty of our New Markets program is its ability to provide flexible gap financing to businesses and organizations that play a vital role in neighborhoods and communities that need an economic helping hand."

Located at 1330 Boylston Street near Fenway Park, Fenway Community Health’s new 10-story, 100,000 square-foot headquarters will be the largest health care facility in the country operated by a health care organization with a focus on the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community. The building will allow Fenway to bring most of its medical, mental health, research, outreach and advocacy programs together in one location for the first time in decades. The bulk of Fenway’s staff currently operates out of three separate facilities, including the main health center at 7 Haviland Street.

"This new facility will provide Fenway with an unprecedented opportunity to expand our programs and services and bring many of our staff together under one roof. When finished, our new home will be one of the largest health centers in the nation," said Fenway Community Health President & CEO Dr. Stephen L. Boswell. "MassDevelopment’s help in securing low-cost financing was an important factor in helping us think big as we planned this project."

Patrick J. Sullivan, Massachusetts CEO for Sovereign Bank, noted that supporting organizations like Fenway Community Health is vital to ensuring that everyone in the Boston area has access to good quality health care. "We’re thrilled to be able to help provide the financial resources necessary to bring expanded health services to the Fenway community."

In 2004, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program allocated $70 million in tax credits to MassDevelopment. Launched in 2002, the Treasury’s program seeks to stimulate economic and community development and job creation in low-income communities by attracting capital from the private sector through tax credits offered by conduit organizations like MassDevelopment. MassDevelopment was one of 271 applicants competing for $3.5 billion in tax credit allocations. Of these applicants, 63 were successful nationwide, and MassDevelopment was one of only five recipients in the Commonwealth.

MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development authority, works with businesses, financial institutions and local officials to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. Between FY2004 and FY2006, MassDevelopment financed or managed 589 projects statewide representing an investment of more than $4 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are supporting the creation of 5,505 housing units and more than 23,000 jobs: 12,381 permanent and 10,679 construction-related.

For more than 35 years, Fenway Community Health has worked to improve the physical and mental health of community residents, especially those who are traditionally underserved like lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) people, women, those living with HIV/AIDS, and people from communities of color. Fenway currently cares for 13,000 patients who make 60,000 clinical visits a year, and FCH is the largest provider of outpatient HIV care in New England. The Fenway Institute at Fenway Community Health works to increase the health of the larger community through research, education, outreach and health policy advocacy. The Fenway Institute’s Research Department is a national and international leader in health-related research and Fenway Community Health is one of only seven LGBT-specific health centers in the U.S.

Sovereign Bancorp, Inc., ("Sovereign") (NYSE: SOV), the parent company of Sovereign Bank, is a $90 billion financial institution with nearly 800 community banking offices, over 2,000 ATMs and approximately 12,000 team members with principal markets in the Northeast United States. Sovereign offers a broad array of financial services and products including retail banking, business and corporate banking, cash management, capital markets, wealth management and insurance. Sovereign is the 18th largest banking institution in the United States.