Bad Blueprints: Worcester Building Trades Challenge Subsidies to Developers | Boston Democratic Socialists of America

WORCESTER, MA – On Monday, January 10, North Atlantic States Carpenters Union Local 336 members gathered against a 10-year real estate tax exemption and state tax credit eligibility proposed by Worcester City Manager Eric Batista for Menkiti Group, a Washington DC developer.

They object on the grounds that Menkiti has broken the city’s Responsible Development Ordinance – a list of requirements to be eligible for such exemptions – through its hiring of Barber Drywall. The company has been cited five times over the past two years for ordinance violations relating to wages and hours. Tax exemptions and credits like these amount to a publicly-funded subsidy granted to developers by the city.

Menkiti is seeking the exemption for a project which would convert the upper floor of an office building on Main Street into market-rate apartments. Only five of the 48 planned units will be available to tenants making no more than 60% area median income, according to Chief Development Officer Peter Dunn in communication with Worcester City Council.