Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | October 19, 2026 | wbjournal.com REAL ESTATE INSIDER BY ERIC CASEY WBJ Managing Editor C entral Massachusetts would have fewer opportunity zones under a new map submitted by Gov. Maura Healey's administration, although Worcester would gain one zone and account for nearly half of the region's proposed designations. e state nominated 15 census tracts in eight communities within Central Massachusetts, down from the 24 tracts in 11 communities designated in 2018. Opportunity zones offer federal tax benefits to investors who reinvest capital gains through qualified opportunity funds in designated low- income census tracts. Massachusetts submitted 104 proposed zones in 46 municipalities to the U.S. Department of the Treasury on Oct. 2, choosing from 414 eligible tracts. Worcester would increase from six zones to seven. e city would retain zones covering Gateway Park, Main South, the south side of Chandler Street, downtown, and the Polar Park area. It would add the north side of Chandler Street and a tract containing UMass Chan Medical School, UMass Memorial Health, AbbVie, and e Reactory biomanufacturing park, while dropping an existing zone east of downtown. Athol, Fitchburg, Framingham, Gardner, Marlborough and South- bridge would continue to have zones, although each except Fitchburg would have fewer tracts than in 2018. Clin- ton, Leominster, Spencer, and Webster would lose all of their designations. Shrewsbury would receive its first zone, covering the Fairlawn area along Route 9 and the former Chelmsford bottling factory property. A map of the proposed opportunity zones can be found here. e changes remain proposals until the Treasury certifies them, which the state expects later this fall. Once certified, the zones will take effect Jan. 1 and remain in place through December 2036. Massachusetts' first- round opportunity zones will remain designated through December, 2028, overlapping for two years with the proposed 2027 zones. e federal government created the program through the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Legislation enacted in 2025 made it permanent and established new designation rounds every decade. e law also tightened eligibility. A tract may now qualify if its median family income is no more than 70% of the applicable area median, down from 80%, or if it has a poverty rate of at least 20% and median family income no higher than 125% of the area median. e new rules also eliminated eligibility for higher-income tracts selected solely because they bordered low-income communities and created enhanced incentives for qualifying rural investments. e Worcester Regional Research Bureau said in a June report state and local officials should take an active role in identifying development- ready opportunity zone projects and marketing them to investors. Its research found the tax incentive can help attract private capital, but limited data makes its broader economic impact difficult to measure. WRRB said research suggests investment can concentrate in housing projects in already-growing large metro areas. Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, and primarily covers the real estate and banking & finance industries. Worcester holds nearly half of Central Mass. opportunity zones in state plan W Proposed opportunity zones in Worcester and Shrewsbury. PHOTO | COURTESY OF COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS

• Cover