MassDevelopment

MassDevelopment Issues Tax-Exempt Bond for YMCA of the North Shore to Support Creation of New Cape Ann YMCA Building


August 22, 2019


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts:
Kelsey Schiller, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2011 & 617-694-9695 (cell)
kschiller@massdevelopment.com

Kevin McCarthy, YMCA of the North Shore
mccarthyk@northshoreymca.org

MassDevelopment has issued a $13 million tax-exempt bond on behalf of the YMCA of the North Shore. The organization will use bond proceeds to build and equip a two-story, 62,856-square-foot building at the site of the former Fuller School in Gloucester, which will be the new home of the Cape Ann YMCA. The Cape Ann YMCA is relocating from its current facility at 71 Middle Street, and will be part of a broader mixed-use development at the former Fuller School site that will also include market-rate and affordable housing, retail, and access to public transit. The new Cape Ann YMCA will include a gymnasium, fitness studios, wellness center, indoor pool, outdoor spray park, preschool, community meeting space, community café, administrative offices, and parking. TD Bank purchased the bond.

“Relocating the Cape Ann YMCA branch achieves two goals: revitalizing an underutilized parcel at the former Fuller School site, and providing community members better access to health and wellness programs in a new state-of-the-art building,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Lauren Liss. “We’re proud to provide the YMCA of the North Shore access to tax-exempt financing to make this project a reality.”

MassDevelopment has previously supported the YMCA of the North Shore. In 2017, the organization used a $14.8 million tax-exempt bond to renovate, add to, and build an educational center at the Greater Beverly YMCA. In 2016, the organization used a $6,150,000 tax-exempt bond to build a 5,000-square-foot addition to the Ipswich Family YMCA, which included space for programming, locker rooms, an outdoor pool, and a waterpark. Both bonds were also used to refinance previously issued debt.

For more than 160 years, the YMCA of the North Shore has been strengthening the foundations of community for the more than 100,000 members and program participants it serves in 25 cities and towns. YMCA of the North Shore is the 30th-largest YMCA nationwide. It nurtures the potential of children and teens, improves the region’s health and well-being, and provides opportunities to give back and support its neighbors, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic background.

“We are so grateful for our long-standing relationship with state agencies and are thankful to MassDevelopment specifically for their continued support which enables us to maximize our raised community dollars to provide essential Y programming to more individuals, children, and families across the North Shore,” said YMCA of the North Shore CEO Chris Lovasco.

MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2018, MassDevelopment financed or managed 384 projects generating investment of more than $4.1 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are estimated to create or support 10,994 jobs and build or rehabilitate 830 housing units.