MassDevelopment Awards $330,000 for Local Economic-development Goals
BOSTON — MassDevelopment has awarded up to $330,000 in funding for 14 cities and towns through its Real Estate Services Technical Assistance program to address site-specific and district-wide economic-development challenges.
Through a combination of in-house expertise and contracts with consultants, under this program, MassDevelopment works with municipal officials, planners, local stakeholders, and others to address priority planning and development projects through creative solutions and clear, implementable action steps.
“The Baker-Polito administration is committed to helping communities achieve their economic-development goals,” said Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy, who serves as chair of MassDevelopment’s board of directors. “MassDevelopment’s Real Estate Services Technical Assistance program is one of the many tools available to cities and towns in Massachusetts looking to revitalize key properties and improve their downtowns.”
Created in 2017, MassDevelopment’s Real Estate Services Technical Assistance program has awarded $1.37 million to help 39 communities advance their economic-development goals through 41 projects.
Three of the most recent awards are in Western Mass. The Town of Buckland will use a $10,000 award to prepare a former town Highway Department garage at 50 Conway St. for private acquisition and redevelopment. The City of Greenfield will use a $25,000 award to develop an request for proposals for the First National Bank Building, the last unresolved property in the city’s Bank Row Urban Renewal District, targeting a project that will further revitalize the downtown. And the Town of Montague will use a $35,000 award to complete a property-reuse assessment of the Strathmore Mill Complex at 20 Canal St. that will help advance redevelopment of the canal district’s north end.
