The state has made a $7.25 million Growth Districts Initiative grant to the city to make improvements to streets around the CitySquare development downtown.
The grant will be used for demolition and site preparation at Mercantile Street, Front Street, Mechanics Plaza and Building I Plaza. The work will make way for the development of the $563 million, 2.2 million-square-foot mixed-use CitySquare project, which was stalled until the project reached an agreement with employee benefits provider Unum Group to lease nearly 200,000 square feet there.
Growth district grants are part of a grant program included in the transportation bond bill signed by Gov. Deval Patrick last year. The bill included about $50 million in grants to help cities and towns with infrastructure projects and capital investments in designated areas.
