MassDevelopment Bond Helps CREST Finance New Location in Andover

April 11, 2021 : Merrimack Valley Magazine, by Kristin Cole

MassDevelopment has issued a $17 million tax-exempt bond on behalf of Collaborative for Regional Educational Services and Training (CREST), a nonprofit that provides educational, vocational, and therapeutic programs for children with developmental disabilities. CREST used bond proceeds to buy an approximately 127,470-square-foot newly renovated school building in Andover, where the organization will consolidate programs offered at its three existing locations in Methuen under one roof.

The new facility, which was recently converted from its previous use as an office building, consists of 62 classrooms, 10 conference rooms, 55 private offices, a gymnasium, a cafeteria, several workshops, including art, music, computer, and woodshops, an auto repair facility, group restrooms, and a kitchen area. TD Bank, N.A., purchased the bond, which MassDevelopment enhanced with a guarantee.

CREST is comprised of 16 member school districts including Andover, Dracut, Greater Lawrence Technical School, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lowell, Methuen, Newburyport and North Andover. The organization offers educational programs and services for students with developmental disabilities to supplement and strengthen existing school programs and services that otherwise would be neither affordable nor accessible to each local school district on its own