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| Brockton Redevelopment Authority | |
|---|---|
| Name | Brockton Redevelopment Authority |
| Type | Redevelopment agency |
| Founded | 1950s |
| Headquarters | Brockton, Massachusetts |
| Region served | Brockton, Massachusetts |
| Leader title | Executive Director |
| Parent organization | City of Brockton |
Brockton Redevelopment Authority is a municipal redevelopment agency operating in Brockton, Massachusetts tasked with planning, acquiring, and revitalizing designated urban renewal areas. The agency interacts with state and federal entities such as the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, and regional partners including the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District while coordinating with elected officials from the Brockton City Council and the Office of the Mayor of Brockton. Its work spans property disposition, tax increment financing arrangements, and public-private partnerships with developers, non-profits, and institutions.
The agency traces roots to mid-20th-century urban renewal movements linked to the Housing Act of 1949 and subsequent federal programs administered by HUD. Early projects mirrored initiatives in cities like Boston, Springfield, Massachusetts, and New Bedford, Massachusetts that used eminent domain and clearance strategies influenced by planners from the National Capital Planning Commission and consultants familiar with the Urban Renewal Program (United States). During the 1960s–1970s the entity collaborated with state authorities including the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to reconfigure industrial corridors near rail lines such as the Old Colony Railroad corridors. The agency’s history intersects with regional economic shifts tied to manufacturing declines in places like Fall River, Massachusetts and Lowell, Massachusetts, prompting reuse efforts resembling those in Lawrence, Massachusetts and Worcester, Massachusetts.
The authority is governed by an appointed board reporting to municipal leadership and coordinating with the Brockton Redevelopment Authority (board) membership, municipal departments such as Brockton Planning Board and Brockton Inspectional Services, and oversight from the Massachusetts Attorney General. Executive leadership liaises with state offices including the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities and interagency partners like the Massachusetts Housing Partnership. Legal frameworks invoked include provisions of the Massachusetts General Laws related to redevelopment and eminent domain, aligning with precedents set in cases from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and federal decisions from the United States Supreme Court.
The authority has undertaken commercial, residential, and infrastructure projects comparable to initiatives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Somerville, Massachusetts, and Newton, Massachusetts that leveraged transit-oriented development principles seen in projects around South Station and Forest Hills (MBTA station). Notable project types include adaptive reuse of mill structures similar to conversions in Lawrence, Massachusetts and Lowell, Massachusetts, waterfront activation approaches paralleling New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park, and downtown streetscape improvements akin to work in Plymouth, Massachusetts and Quincy, Massachusetts. Projects have involved partnerships with regional developers with experience in the Massachusetts housing market, community development corporations similar to Codman Square Neighborhood Development Corporation, and institutions such as Massasoit Community College for workforce training linkages.
Financing mechanisms employed include tax increment financing modeled after approaches in Chicago, state subsidy programs administered by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, federal grants from HUD programs like the Community Development Block Grant, and historic tax credit strategies used in preservation projects across Salem, Massachusetts and Providence, Rhode Island. The authority has utilized bond financing, low-income housing tax credits issued through the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency, and partnerships with community banks and regional lenders such as those serving Bristol County, Massachusetts. Financing often involves coordination with the Massachusetts Cultural Council for arts-related placemaking and with philanthropic entities similar to the Barr Foundation.
Outcomes have included new housing units, commercial space, and infrastructure analogous to impacts in Brockton, Massachusetts’s peer cities like Framingham, Massachusetts and Attleboro, Massachusetts. Criticism has mirrored controversies in urban renewal nationwide, raising concerns cited in cases involving eminent domain controversies and displacement debates similar to public debates in Boston neighborhoods and in national reporting involving urban renewal critiques. Community groups, neighborhood associations, and advocacy organizations similar to Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless and tenants’ rights groups have engaged the authority over affordability, transparency, and historic preservation issues, referencing precedents from civic actions in Roxbury and Dorchester, Boston.
The entity operates under statutory powers defined in the Massachusetts General Laws chapters governing redevelopment agencies, coordinating zoning overlays with the Brockton Planning Board, site plan reviews paralleling processes in Hingham, Massachusetts, and environmental review frameworks aligned with the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act and federal National Environmental Policy Act. Regulatory coordination includes permitting with Brockton Inspectional Services, traffic assessments referenced against Massachusetts Department of Transportation standards, and stormwater controls consistent with Environmental Protection Agency guidance and state wetlands protection enforced via the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.
Planned initiatives emphasize transit-oriented development near regional rail and bus corridors serving GATRA and commuter connections to South Station, expansion of affordable housing using Low-Income Housing Tax Credit strategies, brownfield reclamation informed by models in Fall River, Massachusetts and New Bedford, Massachusetts, and workforce programs linked to institutions like Massasoit Community College and regional workforce boards. Strategic priorities align with state efforts such as the Massachusetts State Housing Plan and federal agendas promoted by HUD for resilient, equitable development, while engaging stakeholders from the Brockton Chamber of Commerce, labor unions similar to the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, and regional planning organizations.
Category:Government agencies in Massachusetts Category:Organizations based in Brockton, Massachusetts