For much of their history, Massachusetts CDCs have been involved in commercial and industrial real estate projects. Our members have completed a total of 79 such projects, representing more than 1.4 million square feet. These developments provide space to more than 200 businesses and 1,500 employees.

CDC sponsored commercial and industrial real estate projects are typically very difficult to complete because they are precisely those projects that the private sector has avoided. These projects are often very expensive due to the need for major demolition or rehabilitation, difficult site assembly and infrastructure issues, and environmental contamination. Moreover, these high costs cannot be covered by rents from tenants because of lower market demand in CDC communities. Without significant public subsidy, these sites remain blights on the community. At the moment, the Community Development Block Grant program provides the only significant source of public subsidy for such projects, and CDBG funding is extremely limited.

MACDC is seeking to overcome this gap through these initiatives.

• Expanding private sector financing for commercial/industrial real estate projects through partnerships with banks and insurance companies and by helping CDCs to access newly established federal New Market Tax Credits.



• Advocating for more public support of job creating, non-residential community development projects, through the federal Community Development Block Grant program (CDBG), the state's Community Development Action Grant (CDAG) program, and possibly other programs.



• Helping CDCs complete successful brownfields projects by ensuring continued access to grant and loan dollars form the state's Brownfields Redevelopment Fund.