BOSTON – Trinity Financial announced that Courthouse Lofts in Worcester has been awarded Preservation Massachusetts’ highest honor – the Paul & Niki Tsongas Award. The award recognizes people and projects that have displayed the highest level of commitment to historic preservation in the Commonwealth.
Courthouse Lofts is the certified historic rehabilitation and adaptive re-use of the approximately 214,000 square-foot Old Worcester County Courthouse, originally built in 1845, into a new multifamily mixed income residential community.
Awardees were honored at a celebration—the organization’s first in-person event since 2019—at Boston’s historic Fairmont Copley Plaza on Wednesday, May 11, 2022.
“We are deeply honored to receive this award. Trinity Financial knows the importance of preserving, reusing, and restoring historic landmarks that matter to the community,” said Patrick Lee, Trinity Financial’s co-founder. “The importance of preservation is one of our core values as a company, and this project was an opportunity to partner with the City of Worcester and a broad cross-section of stakeholders to both preserve and activate one of the city’s most recognizable downtown landmarks.”
Courthouse Lofts includes 118 new units of housing in studio, 1-, 2-, and 3-bedroom configurations. Community and resident amenities at Courthouse Lofts include, a media and game room, club room ideal for remote work and study, fitness center, beautifully landscaped courtyard, a pet spa, children’s playroom and outdoor playground and on-site makerspace. It also includes the Major Taylor Museum, a 1,700 public meeting space dedicated to Marshall “Major” Taylor, the first African American world champion in cycling.
“Courthouse Lofts is really a place like no other that satisfies its residents’ needs in today’s world,” said Michael Lozano, Vice President, Development for Trinity Financial. “It enables and enhances a variety of live-work lifestyles that have emerged and become standard for many people in the past few years. It provides superior amenities and direct access to the activity and excitement in downtown Worcester – and it does all of this in a truly unique environment in which residents are surrounded by history and iconic architecture.”
Apartment units feature dishwasher and washer/dryer, electric ranges with range hoods and microwave, quartz countertops, tile baths, custom light fixtures and generous natural light from oversized windows, stainless steel appliances and high-efficiency HVAC. Each unit is unique with one-of-a-kind historic details and features. The project’s architects and interior designers from The Architectural Team Inc. (TAT) integrated created character-rich apartment units at Courthouse Lofts while preserving the building’s most impressive public spaces.
“Courthouse Lofts is a one-of-a-kind property, and easily among the most extraordinary adaptive reuse projects we’ve taken on as a firm,” said TAT Associate Phil Renzi. “We’re honored to receive this recognition from Preservation MA. The award reflects how the sensitive restoration and adaptation of Courthouse Lofts preserves our nation’s architectural fabric while creating essential residential offerings for new generations that look beautiful, function flawlessly, and continue to tell remarkable stories about this historic icon.”
The 2022 Preservation Awards program is a month-long multimedia celebration that coincides with National Historic Preservation Month. A jury of preservation experts selected 19 exemplary people and projects that made significant contributions in the past year to preserving historic resources in communities from Adams to Boston. All of the Paul and Niki Tsongas Award recipients were honored at the May 11 event.
“This year’s award recipients demonstrate how preservation goes beyond historic buildings and landscapes—it also includes important lessons for the future of our communities,” said Erin Kelly, Executive Director of Preservation Massachusetts. “This May, we are celebrating projects and people that have encouraged collaboration among the Commonwealth’s diverse communities, and we are thrilled to be gathering in person once again to honor these deserving awardees.”
The May 11 event also serves as a critical annual fundraiser for Preservation Massachusetts. Founded in 1985, this statewide non-profit organization actively promotes the preservation of historic buildings and landscapes as a positive force for economic development and the retention of community character.
