The steady rise of Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing in the US has now reached one of Boston’s tallest buildings. Millennium Partners has received a $281 million C-PACE loan to implement energy efficiency upgrades at the 62-storey Winthrop Center in Downtown Boston, the developer announced on Friday afternoon.
Nuveen Green Capital provided the fixed-rate loan under the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Massachusetts programme. According to the lender, this represents the largest C-PACE financing to date in the New England region. The residential component of the approximately 800,000-square-foot mixed-use building, completed in 2023, attracted strong competition among lenders, with many debt funds pursuing the loan, according to a source familiar with the transaction.
The C-PACE financing was closed concurrently with a $575 million commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) loan led by Morgan Stanley for the tower's office and retail portion, according to a presale report from Moody's. CoStar first reported on the “MP Trust 2026-WTRP” deal for Boston’s largest building in the city’s Financial District. The combined debt package of $856 million replaces an earlier construction loan from Cale Street from October 2020, after the London firm stepped in when another bank pulled out at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mike Doty, Senior Director of Originations at Nuveen Green Capital, expressed his satisfaction with the collaboration: “We are honoured to have worked with MassDevelopment to recapitalise the largest C-PACE financed project in New England – a project that has helped reshape Downtown Boston with state-of-the-art, energy-efficient residences.” Christopher M. Jeffries, founder of Millennium Partners, stated that the C-PACE loan validated the investments in energy efficiency and provided long-term capital that supports the building’s enduring performance.
The PACE Massachusetts programme was updated in June 2026 by MassDevelopment in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources. The aim was to set financing levels for new construction projects based on compliance with local building codes.
- —Developer: Millennium Partners
- —C-PACE Lender: Nuveen Green Capital
- —CMBS Lender: Morgan Stanley
- —Property: Winthrop Center, Boston
