Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and Chief Development Officer Tim Sheehan today announced the City’s creation of a $1.8 million Blight and Vacant Property Revolving Loan Fund. The establishment of the loan fund recognizes that neighborhood blight and the presence of vacant and abandoned properties have profound negative impacts on afflicted neighborhoods. Blighted and vacant properties decrease surrounding property values, erode the health of the neighborhood housing market, pose safety and public health hazards, and reduce local tax revenue.
Economic disinvestment and the withdrawal of industry increase unemployment and worker migration, which leads to vacancy and deterioration. The vacancies, in turn, reduce City tax revenue which constrains public services and functions, making the area less safe, healthy and attractive which fuels population loss.
Blight costs hundreds of millions of dollars in reduced property values and lost tax revenue and requires millions in safety-related spending. Vacant and blighted properties make people feel less safe and less proud of their neighborhoods. In addition to its negative effects on crime rates and property values, blight causes social problems and environmental health issues. Blight’s wide-ranging effects are complicated and costly to address. But by targeting “tipping point” neighborhoods — areas threatened by blight, but which still have many healthy properties allows these neighborhoods to “tip the balance” of the neighborhood toward restored health with a limited number of renovations. Strategically addressing blight can have positive social and financial benefits for families, neighborhoods and businesses. The target areas for investment from the loan fund include the North End, Metro Center, South End and Mason Square.
Mayor Sarno stated “The significant economic, social, environmental, and safety effects of blight make it a crucial issue for neighborhood recovery and for my administration. Neighborhood blight is a challenging problem. This revolving loan program is intended to be just one tool the Development Services Division will be using to assist neighborhoods combat this important issue”.
Chief Development Officer Sheehan said “The Blight and Vacant Property Remediation Revolving Loan Fund intends to make flexible financing available to public, private, and non-profit borrowers for the remediation and/or redevelopment of eligible vacant properties such that these properties may be returned to productive use”. The Revolving Loan Fund can be used to finance environmental remediation, construction, site improvements, infrastructure development, and other site-related improvements necessary to return eligible properties to productive economic use. It has been well documented by researchers that environmentally blighted, vacant, or abandoned properties present a substantially increased risk to the public health and welfare of residents in the vicinity of such properties. Given the disproportionate impacts of vacant or abandoned properties on individuals within the community, it is paramount for the Revolving Loan Fund to address these properties particularly as the City recovers from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Applications for the Blight and Vacant Property Remediation Revolving Loan Fund are available on the City’s website along with the programs, policies, and procedures. Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis.