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Boston, MA (2004)

Palmer Warren Project

The project developer, Jubilee Christian Church International, is the largest black church in Boston.

Investment

  • NMTC Amount: $7,433,834
  • Total Project Cost: $8,983,091

IMPACT

  • 113 FTE jobs
  • 120 construction jobs
  • 30,000 sq. ft. of real estate

CDEs

Investor

Project Description

The project developer, Jubilee Christian Church International, is the largest black church in Boston. This project, the first new construction of a commercial building in Dudley Square in 40 years, consists of a three-story building including ground-floor retail and 2 floors of office above for a total of 30,000 sq. ft. Its high-profile corner location is an important symbol of the renaissance of this major commercial district in Boston’s low-income black community. This project helps jumpstart the long-delayed redevelopment of adjacent parcels, including an office and retail complex plus a new 500-space parking garage. The city has worked unsuccessfully with a number of developers over the past dozen years to try to develop the Palmer Warren site.

MHIC provided extensive technical assistance to the developer for whom this is its first major development project (the church’s goal is to use its financial resources to create economic opportunity for its community and is using this project to launch a major real estate development effort). The project created 113 permanent jobs and 120 construction jobs. It is located in Boston’s Empowerment Zone. In the project’s census tract, the poverty rate is 30%, the family median income is 44% of the area median income, and the unemployment rate is 2.65X the US unemployment rate. 60% of the project’s new jobs must go to Zone residents.

Even with $1.8 million in City funding from the HUD 108 and EDI programs, a cash equity infusion by the church of nearly $1 million, the project still had a $2.2 million feasibility gap that is covered by NMTC-financed gap equity, representing 25% of total development cost. MHIC’s CDE also provided a $3.3 million first mortgage loan. It is clear that this project would not have come to fruition without MHIC’s NMTC program.

MAP

Address: 17 – 19 Palmer Street, Boston, MA 2119

Census Tract: 25025080401

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