Massachusetts Development Finance Agency

The Massachusetts Development Finance Agency (MassDevelopment) was created in 1998 under Chapter 23G of the Massachusetts General Laws,^[1] which merged the Massachusetts Government Land Bank with the Massachusetts Industrial Finance Agency. Effective October 1, 2010, the former Massachusetts Health and Educational Finance Authority (MHEFA) merged with MassDevelopment. Both a lender and developer, MassDevelopment works with private- and public-sector clients to stimulate economic growth by eliminating blight, preparing key sites for development, creating jobs, and increasing the state’s housing supply. MassDevelopment's first president and CEO was Michael P. Hogan,^[2] from 1993–2003, followed by Robert Culver from 2004-2011. Today, it is led by Marty Jones,^[3] who came to the agency in 2011 after working for Boston building, development, and property management company Corcoran Jennison.

History

MDFA’s predecessor agency, MIFA was first created in 1978 to focus on industrial projects and leverage newly created tax-exempt bond financing programs for struggling small companies and blighted downtown areas in need of redevelopment, known as Commercial Area Redevelopment Districts, or CARDs. MassDevelopment has served as a model for other states’ funding programs, as the nation’s local regions have struggled first to battle the loss of manufacturing sector jobs, particularly in the Northeast and rust-belt states, transitioning more recently to programs that focus on unique regional competitive advantages in other sectors, such as the health, education and biotech sectors in the case of Massachusetts.

Municipal Bond or tax-exempt financing was made available for mixed-use commercial projects. Agencies throughout the country like MIFA were established to help the state’s cities and towns take advantage of this new type of financing, packaging up deals and selling them in the public credit markets at the lower rates.

Economic development projects and investments

MassDevelopment is headquartered in Boston,^[4] with six regional sites throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. During FY2014, MassDevelopment financed or managed 314 projects generating investment of more than $2.9 billion in the Massachusetts economy. These projects are projected to create more than 6,300 jobs and build or rehabilitate more than 1,600 residential units.^[5] Projects vary in nature and size from real estate and equipment financings^[6] to the redevelopments of Devens,^[7] Village Hill Northampton, Springfield's 1550 Main and expansion of the Myles Standish Industrial Park in Taunton.^[8] In 2014, the agency sold 100 Cambridge Street after redeveloping the building and creating a substantial retail and residential addition.^[9]

More recent financing projects include tax-exempt bonds on behalf of affordable housing projects in Quincy,^[10] Springfield,^[11] and Pittsfield;^[12] the transformation of a Malden building into a state-of-the-art food manufacturing plant for Hoff’s Kitchen;^[13] renovations to the Lawrence Memorial Hospital of Medford and the Melrose-Wakefield Hospital in Melrose;^[14] and loans to Dahlicious LLC,^[15] a manufacturer of organic probiotic lassi yogurt smoothies, to help the company relocate to Leominster, Massachusetts.

After a long debate,^[16] effective October 1, 2010, Chapter 240 of the Acts of 2010 merged the Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority into MassDevelopment, also making MassDevelopment the sole source of tax-exempt funding for all nonprofit educational, health and cultural organizations in the state.

References

External links

• MassDevelopment website
• Massachusetts State Laws