Quincy, Massachusetts is the midst of $1.6 billion downtown redevelopment that will raze most of its 50-acre center and replace it with new housing, retail, offices, entertainment, hotels and parking. While the scale of this redevelopment plan is unusual on its own, as Governing magazine recently reported, its funding plan makes it “a game changer.”
In a traditional redevelopment project, the municipality pays for the public improvements (e.g., utilities, roads, and landscaping) upfront, before the private builder begins construction on the shops, apartments, and offices. But Quincy officials struck a deal in which the developer will assume almost all of the financial risk. Once the developer installs the public improvements and leases a certain percentage of the retail and office space, the city will issue general obligation bonds to repay the debt. With the bond guarantee and signed leases in hand, the developer can then tap private equity and debt markets to finance the next phases of construction.
The Quincy center developer, Street-Works Development, is the same builder responsible for Blue Back Square in West Hartford.
