MassDevelopment

MassDevelopment Secures $40 Million in Federal Tax Credits to Encourage Private Investment in Distressed Communities


April 25, 2013


Contact:
Kelsey Abbruzzese, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2086 & 617-448-9077 (cell)
kabbruzzese@massdevelopment.com

The U.S. Treasury Department has allocated $40 million of New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) to MassDevelopment that will allow the agency to leverage tax credit equity from investors, closing financing gaps that will make new private development projects viable in economically distressed of the Commonwealth.

MassDevelopment was one of 282 applicants competing for $3.5 billion in tax credit allocations. Of these applicants, 85 were successful nationwide, and MassDevelopment was one of only three recipients in Massachusetts.

“MassDevelopment has used New Markets Tax Credits, which have funded everything from charter schools to high-performance computing centers, to deliver capital where it is most needed,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones. “Businesses, nonprofits, and other institutions have leveraged the funds for construction and renovation, creating jobs and investing in low-income communities. We thank the Massachusetts congressional delegation for the support of the New Markets Tax Credits program and the U.S. Treasury for its continued faith in MassDevelopment through this allocation.”

The U.S. Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which administers the program, estimates that since the program’s inception, New Markets Tax Credits have created or retained 358,800 jobs and have supported the construction of 17.1 million square feet of manufacturing space, 49.4 million square feet of office space, and 42.7 million square feet of retail space. MassDevelopment has received four prior NMTC allocations, which totaled $176 million. Since 2004, MassDevelopment has used its allocation to fund major redevelopment projects at the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center in Holyoke, KIPP Academy Lynn Charter School, and 5 Channel Center in Boston, and to create a $30 million, first-in-New-England New Markets Loan Fund that drew on capital from partnerships with Citizens and Sovereign Banks.

MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2012, MassDevelopment financed or managed 280 projects generating investment of more than $2.3 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create more than 12,000 jobs and build or rehabilitate 900 residential units.