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 Economic Development and Job Creation
Using the drop down list select the which area or project of economic development you would like to see.
Economic Development and Job Creation Overview
The nexus between people and jobs through increased land/building development is critical to the vitality of Empowerment Zone neighborhoods. The reuse of vacant lots or the rehabilitation of residential, retail, office or industrial buildings increases neighborhood pride and also provides additional customers to neighborhood businesses. Neighborhood development projects can also be key sources for job opportunities providing residents with incomes while contributing to neighborhood stability.
Since the designation of Boston as an Enhanced Enterprise Community (EEC) in 1994, neighborhood development activities have resulted in the addition of over 2,000 permanent jobs and increase in the city's tax base by $44 million in loans and grants made available through the EEC designation.
Businesses located in the Empowerment Zone can access a variety of programs to start and develop their businesses. The City of Boston also provides technical assistance through The Department of Neighborhood Development, through the Boston Local Development Corporation, and by bond financing.
Tour the Zone and view the previous projects from a neighborhood point of view or use the links below to the economic development projects made possible through EZ investments.
Micro- Lending Program
A major strategy for strengthening communities is ensuring a strong and expanding base of small businesses that provide jobs to local residents. Public-private partnerships promote and attract investments necessary for sustainable economic and community development.
BCI has partnered with Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corp., a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), to establish a revolving loan pool, and pre- and post-loan business technical assistance support services for Zone micro-businesses. Access to loans and technical assistance helps micro-businesses expand, maintain or increase profitability, and become more bankable, i.e. increase their access to more conventional loan capital.
Upon approval, start up and existing businesses located within the Empowerment Zone are eligible to borrow up to $25,000 in loans.
Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corp. (DBEDC)
594 Columbia Road, Suite 302, Dorchester
Contact: Deidra MacLeod at (617) 825-4200 x219 or dmacleod@dbedc.com
CROSSTOWN CENTER PHASE II
Phase I of this development is the 750 room Hampton Inn and Suites Hotel, 650 space parking garage and retail shops located at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard. This project is in phase II of its development and Includes a 212,000 square-foot office building of which 30,000 square feet will be Commercial ground retail space. Phase II also adds additional 600-space garage to the existing parking garage bringing the total number of parking spaces to 1250.
THE WARREN-PALMER BUILDING IN DUDLEY SQUARE FORMERLY NAMED (Jubilee-Nehemiah Building).
This is the first private commercial construction in Dudley Square in 40 years. The project was developed by Jubliee Christian Church and jointly financed by the Developer’s equity, Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation’s New Market Tax Credits, The Property & Casualty Initiative, Boston Connects, Inc., the City of Boston’s Office of Business Development and The Life Initiative.
This building 30,000 square feet office and retail space is a prime example of the economic revitalization sweeping through Dudley Square. Adjacent to the Dudley Square bus terminal and the Silver Line, and just three miles from the Financial District, the building offers first class office and retail accommodations for tenants such as Ashley Stewart Women’s Clothing store and Social Service programs such as Youth Opportunity Boston.
Boston Tea Party Ship & Museum
Loan funds from the Empowerment Zone will assist in the total redevelopment and expansion of the Congress Street Siute as well as the construction of two new ships. The new facility will consist of offices, restrooms, storage and a “Tea Room”. The expansion and redevelopment of the Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum will create 60 new jobs while ensuring that an important part of the City’s history is preserved.
Crosstown Center, Crosstown
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This multi-use complex will open mid 2004
at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard.
Phase I will include a 190-room hotel, over 15,000 feet of
ground-level retail space, and a parking structure. Phase
II will include offices and additional parking.
Upon
completion, Crosstown Center will employ approximately 1500
workers.
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The Boston Connects, Inc. Board has voted to support the use
of $5 million in HUD 108/EDI loans and grants and $48 million
in bonds to the Crosstown Center. In addition the Board will
in vest $7 million as equity toward the construction of the
hotel and garage.
| Total Development Cost: |
$70,441,596 |
| EZ Bonds: |
$42,000,000 |
| 108 Funds: |
$2,500,000 |
| EDI Funds: |
$2,500,000 |
| BCI Funds: |
$7,000,000 |
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Fairfield Center, Dudley Square
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One Fairfield Center opened in Feburary 2001.
It occupies the former Boys & Girls Club off Malcolm X
Boulevard in Roxbury. The Boys and Girls Club vacated this
1914 building in the 1980s when the organization moved to
its new facility on Warren Street. It has been rehabilitated
into 33,000 square feet of new office space, a process which
employed approximately 140 people.
| Total Development Cost: |
$8,300,000 |
| 108 Funds: |
$3,000,000 |
| EDI Funds: |
$1,500,000 |
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Grove Hall Mecca, Dorchester
At the end of March 2001, Mayor Thomas M.
Menino and residents of Grove Hall celebrated the opening
of Grove Hall Mecca, a 75,000-square-foot retail center located
on approximately five acres of land at the intersection of
Blue Hill and Geneva Avenues in the heart of the Grove Hall
district of Roxbury. Current occupants of the mall include
retail, food and banking services. A supermarket opened in
Fall 2001. The redevelopment of this parcel has created more
than 250 new full-time jobs.
| Total Development Cost: |
$13,200,000 |
| 108 Funds: |
$3,200,000 |
| EDI Funds: |
$3,600,000 |
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Harrison Supply, Roxbury
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Harrison Supply is a long-time lumber and
hardware retailer in the Roxbury/Crosstown area. This Zone
business was hit hard by the economic downturn in the construction
industry in the 1980s and early 90s. A HUD 108/EDI loan in
1998 allowed the company to implement a turnaround plan, retain
33 jobs and create 14 new jobs.
| Total Development Cost: |
$1,400,000 |
| 108 Funds: |
$350,000 |
| EDI Funds: |
$250,000 |
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Harry Miller Company, Roxbury
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Started in 1910, the Harry Miller Co. Inc.
is an industry leader in the production of fabricated textile
products. Products manufactured at its new 40,000 square foot
facility at 19 Hampden Street include awning covers, athletic
field covers, gymnasium floor covers, divider curtains, fire
blankets, statue covers, tarpaulins,
stadium and gymnasium wall padding, and windsocks. This project
was completed in March 1997.
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| Total Development Cost: |
$3,065,000 |
| 108 Funds: |
$1,495,000 |
| EDI Funds: |
$1,495,000 |
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La Cocina, Roxbury
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In collaboration with Boston Connects, Inc.
and Nuestra Comunidad Community Development Corporation, a
Zone developer known as La Cocina developed 156-162 Blue Hill
Avenue. Current tenants include the Merengue Restaurant, a
lawyer's office and a coffee shop. This rehabilitated storefront,
which had been abandoned for some time, was opened on September
17, 2001 and allowed Merengue Restaurant to relocate to a
larger facility.
| Total Development Cost: |
$953,000 |
| 108 Funds: |
$300,000 |
| EDI Funds: |
$240,000 |
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Labouré Center, South Boston
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October 20, 2002 saw the ribbon cutting for
Labouré Center. Since its founding in 1907, this neighborhood
center has offered child care, job placement, and family services.
Labouré has grown into a multi-service agency providing
health, education, and social services to more than 6,000
individuals each year.
The
new Labouré Center is sited on the corner of West Broadway
and D Streets and is a two-story, 41,520 square foot brick
building which will include day care, after-school youth programming,
mentoring, family counseling, adult health care, elder services,
and visiting nurse services.
| Total Development Cost: |
$950,000 |
| 108 Funds: |
$1,500,000 |
| EDI Funds: |
$1,500,000 |
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Pilot Seafood Distribution, Seaport District
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Governor Paul Cellucci, Mayor Thomas M. Menino,
Congressman Joseph Moakley and Cardinal Bernard Law broke
ground for these seafood processing and distribution centers
on South Boston's North Jetty in April 2000.
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The
new 65,000 square foot seafood processing packaging and distribution
center supports Boston's $650 million seafood industry. The
Seaport District is a key area for the seafood industry due
to its proximity to major highways and Logan International
Airport. The bonds on this project were guaranteed by Massport.
| Total Development Cost: |
$10,000,000 |
| EZ Bonds: |
$10,000,000 |
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North Coast Seafood, Seaport District
North Coast Seafood, a presence in the Boston
seafood industry for over fifty years, relocated and consolidated
its operations in the Marine Industrial Park in 1999. The
new 50,000 square foot processing and distribution center
relocated 210 existing jobs and created 64 new jobs.
| Total Development Cost: |
$15,000,000 |
| 108 Funds: |
$1,500,000 |
| EDI Funds: |
$1,500,000 |
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Palladio Hall, Dudley Square
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Palladio Hall, a registered historic landmark
built in the 1870s, is owned and operated by Nuestra Comunidad
Community Development Cooporative. Along with the Hotel Dartmouth
across Warren Street, it stands as the southern gateway to
Dudley Square. When this fine example of an Italian Renaissance
Revival building was reopened in 2000. Nuestra Communidad
moved its operations into the Hall's upper floors; retail
uses have continued on the ground floor.
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Besides
providing useful commercial space, Nuestra Communidad has
demonstrated the financial feasibility of upper-floor office
spaces in existing buildings and has helped to increase public
investment in Dudley Square.
| Total Development Cost: |
$3,424,000 |
| 108 Funds: |
$850,000 |
| EDI Funds: |
$850,000 |
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South End Health Center, So. End
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A community presence for more than twenty
years, the health center had been bursting at the seams for
some time. The
new facility at 1601 Washington Street opened in 1999 and
includes a 35,000 square foot medical facility, 118 underground
parking spaces, and 55,000 square feet of commercial space,
where a pharmacy is located. This project created 96 new permanent
full-time jobs in the Health Center and the retail shops.
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| Total Development Cost: |
$27,000,000 |
| 108 Funds: |
$3,300,000 |
| EDI Funds: |
$2,900,000 |
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Best Western Roundhouse Hotel, Newmarket
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In early 2001 the Best Western Roundhouse
Suites Hotel opened at 891 Massachusetts Avenue, the first
hotel in an Empowerment Zone in the Northeast. Built in 1875
by the Roxbury Gaslight Company to store coal gas for city
streetlamps and residential lighting, the building has been
a warehouse since about 1906, although it has been largely
vacant since the 1980s.
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The abandoned
former warehouse, known both as the Gasometer and the Roundhouse,
retains the building's distinctive domed metal roof and each
of the 92 two-room suites enjoys a view from the rounded exterior
wall. An estimated 90 jobs were generated during construction
and the hotel itself has created around 31 full-time and 10
part-time jobs. The new hotel is expected to generate an estimated
$150,000 in real estate taxes. The primary developer was WNW
hospitality, who has earned a reputation for preserving local
buildings and revitalizing underutilized properties, particularly
those that are in severe stages of decay.
| Total Development Cost: |
$10,000,000 |
| EZ Bonds: |
$8,000,000 |
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