Transformative Development Initiative

The TDI approach is rooted in three principles:

• Strategic district focus: Identify a strategically-located downtown, residential, or light industrial “TDI District” ready for redevelopment.
• Local collaborative partnerships: Work with local public and private groups to develop a plan, allocate resources, and realize a vision for growth.
• Community engagement: Provide tools and support local partners to foster community engagement and drive investment.

Each designated TDI District receives a “toolbox” tailored to the needs of the local vision. Districts are eligible for staffing resources, technical assistance, real estate investment, small grants to support local markets, and increased MassDevelopment support from the Agency’s various programs.

Since its inception, TDI has invested over $7 million in Gateway Cities through programs like technical assistance, dedicated staff and fellows, and equity investments. These programs enhance public-private engagement and community identity, stimulate improved quality of life for residents, and spur increased investment and economic activities.

Spotlight on Downtown Springfield

A burgeoning international restaurant scene, new businesses, scenic and social parks, enhanced public transit, and renewed momentum are redefining downtown Springfield.

This revitalization has benefited from the progress of nearby investments including Union Station, which MassDevelopment supported in 2013 with brownfields funding for environmental work, and 1550 Main, which MassDevelopment bought in 2009 and rehabilitated into a thriving, fully-tenanted office building. Both of these projects are in the Springfield TDI District, which MassDevelopment established based on a local public-private partnership’s vision of creating a downtown dining district located between Union Station and the new MGM Casino, opening in 2018. The partnership wanted to explore ways to increase foot traffic, add restaurants and amenities for new market-rate housing units, and increase the visibility of investment opportunities. First TDI steps included program-sponsored technical assistance, such as urban design strategies for the public realm, and providing a market narrative and investor prospectus to help attract development.

MassDevelopment also provided Springfield a TDI Fellow, Laura Masulis, an Agency employee dedicated full time to revitalizing the district. Laura and her cohort of fellows in TDI Districts around the Commonwealth act as connectors and organizers, working with local leaders and stakeholders to encourage new and growing businesses and activities to enliven the district. Successful partnership efforts have so far included:

• Pop-Up Holiday Market - Now an annual event that has led to four permanent businesses.
• Make-It Springfield - A community workshop space for local artisans, crafters, entrepreneurs, and programmers to share their skills with community members and pilot new business.
• Helping the city develop a new dining district loan fund to attract more restaurateurs to the area.
• A weekly farmers market and beer garden during summer months.
• Pedestrian-friendly streetscape improvements, such as wider sidewalks and improved lighting.
• Advancing the restoration of historic Stearns Park.

Making its first equity investment through TDI, MassDevelopment purchased and improved the former Skyplex building at 8-12 Stearns Square in downtown Springfield, positioning it to host new dining and cultural uses. Other support to the district includes technical assistance to support real estate projects, funding for placemaking projects, and TDI Local small grants to bolster storefront improvements and leases for start-up businesses.

Site Readiness Fund

Created by the Baker-Polito Administration’s 2016 economic development bill and administered by MassDevelopment, the Site Readiness Fund aims to boost the Commonwealth’s inventory of large, well-located, project-ready sites to spur private-sector investment. The program grew from lessons learned during a site search that a Boston-area biotech company undertook for its new facility. The site search process resulted in a small list of appropriate properties, which served as a call to action. Commonwealth officials realized Massachusetts could do much more to boost its inventory of large, well-located, shovel-ready sites, creating opportunities for businesses to locate and grow all over Massachusetts.

The 2016 legislation authorized $15 million for the program. In partnership with the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, MassDevelopment provided 14 grants to 12 communities in the first round of the program. These grants to municipalities fund feasibility studies, master planning, environmental work, strategic land acquisition, and site improvements. In September 2017, the Baker-Polito Administration announced the opening of the second round of funding, which will continue to help municipalities use the Site Readiness program to give developers the foundation they need to build job- and revenue-generating projects.