MassDevelopment has provided an $8 million New Markets Tax Credit allocation to the Joseph M. Smith Community Health Center (JMSCHC) in Boston’s Allston and Brighton neighborhoods.

The financing will help JMSCHC build a 48,000-square-foot health center, which will consolidate three of its leased sites – including administrative offices and the primary Allston health center and vision clinic – into a single site. The building will nearly double JMSCHC’s patient capacity to 11,500 patients annually.

Founded in 1974 by a group of Allston-Brighton neighbors under the leadership of Joseph M. Smith, JMSCHC provides health care to low-income individuals and families.

JMSCHC currently serves about 6,000 patients in Allston. The center expects to create 75 jobs as a result of this project.