Priority Development Areas (PDAs)

Bioswale in a parking lot

Priority Development Areas are locations that are appropriate for commercial, office, retail and/or residential growth. They may involve new construction, redevelopment, or adaptive reuse of existing buildings. The 18 State Priority Development Areas in the 495 region can accommodate approximately 21,500 new jobs (over 40 percent of the total job growth projected for the region through 2035) and approximately 3,000 new housing units.

There are three main categories:

• Town Centers;
• Transit-Oriented Development Opportunities; and
• Exceptional Opportunities for Job Creation and/or Workforce Housing

This section of the toolkit provides quick access to many resources available to assist in developing the PDAs sustainably and aligning local plans, zoning, and tax incentives to make the PDAs market-ready.

Tools for Community Economic Development Readiness 
Financial Resources for Economic Development
Brownfields Redevelopment
Smart Growth Permitting and Resources
Downtown/Commercial District Revitalization 
Making the Case for Compact Workforce Housing
Permitting and Resources for Workforce Housing
Quick Links to Resources for Economic Development and Housing

Tools for Communities to become “Economic Development-Ready”

Designated Growth Districts in the 495 Region Worcester’s Innovation Square Growth District: A 82-acre district that includes the 12-acre Gateway Park and land extending south to Lincoln Square - an award-winning example of environmental stewardship and urban redevelopment. © Worcester Polytechnic Institute Foxborough Growth District: 500 acres that includes Gillette Stadium and Patriot Place. Devens: This mixed-use redevelopment project on a 4,000 acre former Army base is a model of regional cooperation and sustainability.

• 43D and 43E expedited permitting. Commercial or industrial developments proposed for Priority Development sites can get state and local permitting in less than 180 days working through the state’s Permit Regulatory Office.
• Growth Districts Initiative. The Permit Regulatory Office partners with municipalities in designated “growth districts” to make the district “development ready” (i.e., permitted, with any necessary site preparation and infrastructure).
• MassDevelopment technical assistance. MassDevelopment is another source of assistance to communities going through the 43D/43E expedited permitting process.
• Municipal Self-Assessment Checklist. The Massachusetts Association of Regional Planning Agencies (MARPA) has developed a checklist for municipalities to assess their own permitting practices.
• Best Practices Model to Streamlined Local Permitting. MARPA also produced this toolkit for best practices, which includes several useful guides, flow charts, and checklists.
• Massachusetts Permitting Collaborative. State agencies work together to advise on how new development projects can navigate the permitting and regulatory process.
• District Local Technical Assistance (DLTA), funded by the Expedited Permitting Law Chapter 205 of the Acts of 2006, and distributed by the Department of Housing and Community Development. DLTA provides funding for regional planning agencies to assist communities with advancing zoning and permitting in areas identified through the Regional Planning process.

Financial Resources for Economic Development

• Tax Incentive Financing Examples Red Hat Enhanced Expansion Project in Westford leveraged over $50 million in private investment with tax credits through the Economic Development Incentive Program (EDIP) and TIF. Worcester’s City Square Project The largest development project in the Commonwealth outside of the Boston area, this private/public commercial real estate project is creating a new, pedestrian-friendly, small street and block patten in the heart of downtown Worcester. Massachusetts Office of Business Development helps companies find the technical, human, financial, training, educational, and siting resources necessary to expand or locate in Massachusetts.

  MassDevelopment financing and real estate development. The state, through MassDevelopment, can provide tax-exempt bond, loan, and tax credit financing for economic development projects. MassDevelopment also offers communities help in planning economic development.
• MassWorks Infrastructure Program provides a one-stop shop for municipalities and other eligible public entities seeking public infrastructure funding to support economic development and job creation.
• Economic Development Incentive Program. Companies in designated Economic Opportunity Areas can receive state and local tax incentives in exchange for job creation, manufacturing job retention and private investment commitments. District Improvement Financing (DIF) and Tax Increment Financing (TIF) are tax incentive tools that promote development and redevelopment. TIF offers tax breaks to developers, while DIF channels tax dollars into targeted redevelopment districts.
• Community Development Block Grants (CDBG). This federal program, which DHCD administers for smaller cities and towns, funds housing, community and economic development projects that assist low and moderate income residents.
• Economic Development Fund. This federal program uses CDBG funds to finance economic development projects in smaller cities and towns that create/retain jobs and improve the tax base.
• Massachusetts Alliance for Economic Development (MassEcon) is a public-private partnership that supports the expansion and retention of businesses in Massachusetts. Among the resources it provides are a searchable database of market-ready development sites.

Brownfields Redevelopment

Brownfields reuse is the cleanup, redevelopment and return of contaminated properties to productive uses. Redeveloping brownfields sites in the 495 region will revitalize blighted areas, support local economic growth, and advance environmental health.

• Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs overview of Brownfields/Brownfields Redevelopment
• MassDEP Brownfields Support Team and information. DEP provides an interagency support team that assists communities with cleanup and redevelopment. Search the MassDEP database for locations with possible contamination.
• USA Brownfields Program. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields grants support revitalization efforts by funding environmental assessment, cleanup, and job training activities.
• Brownsfields Covenants Program. The state’s Attorney General administers a program that provides liability relief to owners and operators of contaminated properties interested in cleanup and redevelopment.
• Brownsfields Redevelopment Fund. This MassDevelopment program provides low-interest loans and grants for site assessment and cleanup.
• The state Brownsfields Tax Credit and federal Brownsfields Tax Deduction offer tax incentives for cleanup.
• Greenways and Open Space in Development provides grants and technical assistance.
• Brownfields Resource Guide by the 495 Metro/West Partnership, Tools for Understanding and Implementing Brownfields Redevelopment at the Local Level in Massachusetts. Designed for municipal officials and developers the guide features regional case studies and inventories state and federal programs.

Smart Growth Permitting and Resources

Smart Growth Case Studies Legacy Farms A mixed use, smart growth development in Hopkinton that spans 730 acres and includes 940 homes and 450,000 square feet of commercial space. Also incorporates conservation and green infrastructure. © Legacy Farms

Natick High School  The town was given additional funding by the state towards building a new high school for their effort to promote smart growth projects.

Case Studies in the 495 Region Bay Circuit Trail 180 miles of multi-use, passive recreational trail spanning 34 towns in Eastern Massachusetts Bruce Freeman Rail Trail A proposed 25-mile trail following the route of the old New Haven Railroad Framingham & Lowell line. © Emily Teller, Friends of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail

• Smart Growth/Smart Energy Toolkit. The state’s toolkit provides model bylaws as well as presentations that can be used to educate the public about various smart growth tools and techniques.Chapter 40R/Chapter 40S. Chapter 40R of the Massachusetts General Laws encourages cities and towns to establish new zoning overlay districts to promote housing production using smart growth principles. Chapters 40R also provides direct financial incentives to communities that adopt these new zoning districts and produce housing. Chapter 40S serves to reimburse cities and towns for the additional costs of educating new school-age children in smart growth districts.
• Mixed Use Zoning. Often implemented as an “overlay district,” this zoning strategy can thoughtfully mix housing, civic uses, and commercial uses, including retail, restaurants, and offices. Open space and green infrastructure may also be included.
• The Commercial Area Transit Node Housing Program (CATNHP) and Transit Oriented Development (TOD) are two state programs that help finance developments near public transit. CATNHP supports rental housing production or rehabilitation near transit nodes. TOD aids compact, mixed-use, walkable development around transit stations and is available for residential, commercial, retail, and recreational space.
• American Planning Association “Growing Smart” Guidebook. A comprehensive guide to zoning and planning tools to combat sprawl, promote affordable housing, and encourage redevelopment.
• Greenways and Open Space in Development. It is often beneficial to include open space and trails in development sites and to link open spaces and trails across properties and municipalities.

Downtown/Commercial District Revitalization

• Downtown Revitalization Example Framingham Downtown Renaissance A public-private partnership to facilitate the development of downtown Framingham as a vibrant commercial and residential mixed-use activity center.

  Downtown Framingham © City of Framingham

  Massachusetts Downtown Initiative. The state’s Downtown Initiative offers a range of services and assistance to communities seeking help on how to revitalize their downtowns.
• Commercial Area Revitalization District program (CARD). Assists communities with older downtowns or commercial centers.
• Historic Preservation Tax Credit and Massachusetts Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit. These federal and state programs provide an incentive for renovating historic buildings.
• Urban renewal. This state program helps municipalities of varying sizes redevelop deteriorated areas by providing the economic environment needed to attract and support private investment.
• Urban Center Housing Tax Increment Financing Program. UCH-TIF is specialized tax increment financing designed to help promote commercial and residential growth in city and town centers.

Making the Case for Compact Workforce Housing

• Density through Design. This report by the 495/MetroWest Partnership illustrates how innovative design solutions can meet the need for compact development and workforce housing in the 495 region through projects that are appropriate in suburban settings, attractive, and will be successful in the marketplace.
• [email protected] Campaign. The 495/MetroWest Partnership and Citizens Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA) developed an affordable housing public awareness campaign with a brochure, media ad, and posters highlighting the need for and benefits of affordable housing in the region.
• Creating Balancing Communities: Lessons in Affordability from 5 Affluent Boston Suburbs. This 2005 report by Business and Professional People for the Public Interest (BPI) highlights tools used to create attractive, moderately priced housing with real examples from Massachusetts.
• Visualizing Density: A Bird's Eye View. The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy interactive website shows how traditional views of density can be misleading.
• Creating Great Neighborhoods—Density in Your Community. The Local Government Commission in cooperation with U.S. EPA produced this review of nine communities nationwide that used dense development to help create vibrant neighborhoods.

Permitting and Resources for Workforce Housing

Community Preservation Act and Housing 89 Oxbow Funded in part by Wayland’s CPA program, this affordable housing development formerly an old Nike missile site owned by the federal government. © Community Preservation Coalition

• Commonwealth Housing Task Force is a diverse coalition of groups that was formed to address the serious housing crisis in Massachusetts that prevents people from finding housing they can afford and employers from recruiting and retaining skilled staff. The task force has produced detailed analyses and spearheaded major policy initiatives to address this issue.
• Comprehensive Permit Statute. The 40B statute provides expedited review for proposed developments in many communities if at least 20-25% of the units have affordability restrictions. The Local Initiative Program (LIP) is for municipalities and developers who are working together under 40B.
• Inclusionary zoning. Municipalities adopting inclusionary zoning can create more diverse housing choices by requiring that residential or mixed-use developments in excess of a designated size provide a percentage of more moderately priced units on-site, in another location in the same municipality, or make a payment to a Municipal Affordable Housing Trust or similar entity.
• State and federal programs provide funding, financing and tax credit help for developments that include a significant percentage of affordable housing. The key ones are: HOME, LIHTC, Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP), and MassHousing.
• Some state and local sources that can help with workforce housing units that are available to those above the usual income limits, but still unable to afford a market-rate home, including the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and Community Preservation Act.
• DHCD’s Priority Development Fund and the MHP Technical Assistance and Targeted Communities programs. Both agencies provide technical assistance and planning grants to help communities develop and implement strategies that will increase housing production.

Quick Links to Resources for Economic Development and Housing

State Agencies, Expedited Permitting, Funding, Business Development:

• Massachusetts Permit Regulatory Office
• Massachusetts Office of Business Development (MOBD)
• MassDevelopment
• Massachusetts Alliance for Economic Development (MassEcon)
• Mass Growth Capital Corp
• Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston
• USDA Rural Development Office
• Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, Adams Innovation Institute
• Massachusetts Life Sciences Center
• Massachusetts Clean Energy Center
• Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC)

Housing

• Commonwealth Housing Task Force
• Department of Housing & Community Development Housing Development links
• Massachusetts Housing Partnership (MHP)
• Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation (MHIC)
• Citizens Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA)
• Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance (MAHA)

Planning and Smart Growth

• Department of Housing & Community Development: Community Planning links
• Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs: Smart Growth/Smart Energy Toolkit
• Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance
• 495/MetroWest Partnership
• Regional Planning Agencies serving the 459 region: Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission (CMRPC), Montachusett Regional Planning Commission (MRPC), Northern Middlesex Council of Governments (NMCOG), and Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District (SRPEDD)
• American Planning Association, Massachusetts Chapter

495/MetroWest Development Compact

The Patrick-Murray Administration through Executive Office of Housing & Economic Development partnered with Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, the MetroWest Regional Collaborative, the 495/MetroWest Partnership, and Mass Audubon to engage the region in the preparation of a comprehensive land use and development plan.