Massachusetts is advancing a new wave of adaptive reuse activity with the latest round of awards from its Commercial Conversion Tax Credit Initiative. The Healey-Driscoll Administration has approved $15.3 million in tax credits for five projects that will transform vacant or underutilized commercial properties into rental housing across multiple communities in the state.
The newly supported conversions are expected to deliver a combined 856 rental homes in Boston, Dedham, Springfield, Westford, and Worcester. State officials are positioning the program as a tool to address both excess commercial inventory and the need for additional housing, particularly in downtown and commercial districts where older buildings have struggled to find new uses.
One of the largest projects in this round will be led by Synergy, which plans to adaptively reuse a historic office building at 294 Washington Street in Boston’s Financial District. That redevelopment is slated to create 255 rental homes along with ground-floor retail space, repurposing a legacy office asset in a core urban location.
In Worcester, the initiative will support the adaptive reuse of the historic former Shack’s Clothes building in the city’s downtown. Additional projects include the redevelopment of an obsolete hotel in Westford, the conversion of four historic buildings in downtown Springfield, and the redevelopment of two obsolete commercial buildings in Dedham. Each of these assets will be repositioned from commercial use into new rental housing.
Gov. Maura Healey framed the program as a response to both underused real estate and housing shortages, noting that Massachusetts has buildings sitting empty while communities need more homes. She emphasized that the tax credit awards are intended to bring more residents, customers, and energy to downtowns and commercial districts as they recover and reposition.
This is the second round of awards made through the Commercial Conversion Tax Credit Initiative. Earlier in the year, the state allocated nearly $8.4 million in credits to support five other projects that are expected to create 339 homes. The initiative itself was established under the Affordable Homes Act, which Gov. Healey signed in 2024, embedding commercial-to-residential conversion incentives into the state’s broader housing strategy.
Together, the two rounds of awards reflect a growing emphasis on adaptive reuse of historic and obsolete commercial properties as a housing delivery mechanism. By steering tax credit support toward conversions in multiple city centers, the state is linking downtown revitalization efforts with housing production and the repositioning of aging commercial stock.
