Concord Square Planning & Development, Inc. was founded in 1995 and has since sought to foster good design and the creation of high quality residential living environments. It is named after Concord Square which is located in the South End of Boston between Tremont Street and Columbus Avenue. The Square, its buildings and the fountain epitomize high quality residential planning and architecture. It is a smart growth location — a short walk to the subway, to Symphony Hall, to shopping, and a longer, but comfortable, walk to the employment of the Back Bay and the Financial District of Boston.

Smart Growth is dedicated to upholding the values that we all share: clean air and water, quality schools and public services, and culturally and economically vibrant town centers. By growing smart, communities can attain the economic stability and cultural vitality that are benefits of growth, while reducing infrastructure costs and “quality of life” impacts. Realizing the promise of smart growth relies on a clear regulatory environment that reflects a community’s goals and objectives, plus developers with a commitment to achieving those goals.

Our Goal: To create and facilitate exceptional living environments.

Concord Square, over several decades, has gained significant experience utilizing specialized financial tools and programs to facilitate development projects.

Financing Program Areas of Expertise:

Federal Historic Tax Credits

The Federal Historic Tax Credit Program provides tax incentives for the preservation and rehabilitation of historic buildings – a 20% tax credit for the certified rehabilitation of certified historic structures. To be qualified as a historic structure, the building needs to be either listed individually in the National Register of Historic Places or be located in a registered historic district and certified by the National Park Service as contributing to the historic significance of that district. The tax incentives program is administered by the National Park Service (NPS) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in partnership with the State Historic Preservation Offices (SHPOs).

Massachusetts State Historic Tax Credits

The Massachusetts State Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit program provides up to 20% of the cost of certified rehabilitation expenditures to a certified income-producing rehabilitation project. There is an annual cap, and a rigorous evaluation/selection process. The Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) certifies the projects and allocates available credits pursuant to a three times per year application process.

Massachusetts Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP) Tax Credits

The Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP), established as M.G.L., Chapter 40V, provides Massachusetts Gateway Cities (such as Brockton) with a development tool to increase residential growth, expand diversity of housing stock, support economic development, and promote neighborhood stabilization in designated areas. The program provides two tax incentives to developers to undertake substantial rehabilitation or new construction of properties for lease or sale as multi-unit market rate housing: first, a local-option real estate tax exemption on all or part of the increased property value resulting from improvements (the increment), and second, a State tax credit equal to up to 25% for Qualified Substantial Expenditures (QSEs) that are awarded through a rolling application process.

Opportunity Zone Equity Investments Structures

The Opportunity Zone program was created as part of the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. This program provides incentives to investors to re-invest capital gains income into projects in low-income census tracts across the country. The three incentives for investors are:

1) a temporary deferral of payment of capital gains tax on re-invested gains until the earlier of the sale of the new investment or December 31, 2026;

2) a step-up in basis for purposes of computing the gain subject to deferred tax by 10% if the new investment is held for 5 years, or 15% if held for 7 years, which effectively exempts 10%-15% of realized gains from taxation. This step-up is only available for OZ Fund Investments made prior to December 31, 2019; and

3) a permanent exclusion from the capital gains tax on disposition of the new investment if it is held for 10 years.

Concord Square relies on these programs and incentives to facilitate market rate and workforce housing projects in the difficult economic environments of Massachusetts’ Gateway cities.