Springfield Technology Park Develops Charter School Space With MassDevelopment Bond
September 10, 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Kelsey Abbruzzese, MassDevelopment, 617-330-2086 & 617-448-9077 (cell)
kabbruzzese@massdevelopment.com
Paul M. Stelzer, Appleton Corporation, 413-540-2703
pstelzer@oconnells.com
MassDevelopment has issued a $3.1 million tax-exempt bond on behalf of Springfield Technical Community College Assistance Corporation (STCCAC). STCCAC developed, leases and manages the Springfield Technology Park, which is across the street from Springfield Technical Community College. The Corporation is using bond proceeds to renovate 31,000 square feet of space in a building in the park that it will lease to Phoenix Public Charter Academy High School. Phoenix will serve high-risk students in grades nine through 12 who have been displaced from area public schools. PeoplesBank purchased the bond, which a MassDevelopment guarantee enhanced.
“STCCAC has done award-winning work in redeveloping the historic Springfield Technology Park,” said MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones. “Developing Phoenix near the College will complement both schools’ educational missions, and we’re pleased to partner with STCCAC and PeoplesBank to fund this Gateway City project.”
Springfield Technical Community College and the Technology Park are at the site of the former Springfield Armory, the primary center for manufacturing U.S. military firearms from 1777 until it closed in 1968. Part of the park is now the Springfield Armory National Historic Site, featuring the world’s largest collection of historic U.S. firearms. STCCAC leases nearly 400,000 square feet of space in the park to roughly 40 companies, which employ about 800 workers. The U.S. Department of Commerce selected STCCAC as the sole national winner of the 2001 Excellence in Urban or Suburban Economic Development Award. STCCAC also received the International Economic Development Council’s 2002 Excellence in Economic Development Award.
STCCAC Board Chair Ricky Swaye said, “The Technology Park Board of Directors is honored to work closely with MassDevelopment and Phoenix Charter Academy on this important economic development project. MassDevelopment understood our mission and our master plan and immediately put together a financing strategy and program with us. We would also like to thank PeoplesBank for its efforts as well.”
MassDevelopment, the state’s finance and development agency, works with businesses, nonprofits, financial institutions, and communities to stimulate economic growth across the Commonwealth. During FY2013, MassDevelopment financed or managed 350 projects generating investment of more than $2.4 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create more than 7,000 jobs and build or rehabilitate 800 residential units.
