MassDevelopment has selected 10 Gateway Cities to receive enhanced development assistant through the state economic agency’s Transformative Development Initiative (TDI).
The TDI Districts will receive enhanced technical assistance, real-estate services and equity investments in real estate to support local visions for redevelopment, and to catalyze and leverage investments and economic activities. Those districts are as follows: Brockton, Haverhill, Holyoke, Lynn, New Bedford, Peabody, Pittsfield, Revere, Springfield and Worcester. Two additional Gateway Cities, Everett and Malden, will receive directed regional planning and implementation assistance to advance their district visions.
"MassDevelopment is thrilled with the redevelopment potential of the inaugural districts that will receive assistance through the Transformative Development Initiative," MassDevelopment President and CEO Marty Jones said in a statement. "These TDI Districts represent the great diversity – in culture, geography and history – of Gateway Cities, and MassDevelopment looks forward to helping to catalyze the realization of as many of their visions as possible."
In early 2015, after in-depth site visits, three of the 10 TDI Districts in Development will be matched with TDI fellows for three-year terms. The fellows will provide on-the-ground, district-specific planning and implementation expertise.
Twenty-six of the Gateway Cities had their submissions from the 2014 Call for Districts reviewed by an outside committee of experts to select cities for the initial pilot program. The committee considered the quality of the submission, the vision for the district, the district type (downtown, residential and industrial), geographic distribution and the opportunity for program impact in the early years of the program. The TDI District Review Committee provided a recommendation to the MassDevelopment Board of Directors, which approved the Districts at its Dec. 11 board meeting.
Gateway Cities that were not designated this pilot year are eligible and encouraged to submit for future rounds. MassDevelopment will compile a pipeline of potential equity investments in all districts submitted to gauge development needs for future funding. All 26 Gateway Cities, in addition to all other cities and towns, will continue to receive and be eligible for typical MassDevelopment services.
TDI provides resources for all Gateway Cities with Cowork grants for innovative collaborative workspaces, and small Placemaking grants of $1,000 to $10,000 for small-scale projects supportive of district visions to help build community identity while supporting improvement of public spaces, including pocket parks, pop-up stores, community gardens and farmers’ markets.
