BOSTON– WinnCompanies announced that work has begun on the Residences on Lincoln Square, a $51 million project to transform the historic Worcester Boys Club building and property into 80 affordable apartment homes for adults 55 and older.
The WinnDevelopment effort will employ adaptive reuse techniques to preserve and renovate the 94-year-old building as 16 apartment homes and a variety of community spaces, while erecting a new five-story apartment building alongside it to house 64 new apartments. The two buildings will be connected on the ground floor by a single-story glass walkway.
“Our legacy of development in Worcester dates back a half century to the company’s founding when Coes Pond Village became one of our first new construction communities,” said WinnCompanies CEO Gilbert Winn. “The Boys Club project is the result of patience, perseverance and partnership. Having acquired this property in 2019, we couldn’t be happier to move forward with a development that will renew this historic structure and deliver much-needed affordable housing for seniors.”
The new community will feature a total of 19 studio apartments, 46 one-bedroom units and 15 two-bedrooms apartments. Sixty-eight (68) of the apartments will be leased to households earning up to 60 percent of Area Median Income (AMI) and 12 units will be available to those earning up to 30 percent AMI. Eleven (11) of the apartments will be set aside as housing for residents with disabilities.
Work on both buildings will occur simultaneously with completion expected in the spring of 2026.
“I am incredibly grateful for WinnDevelopment’s choice to invest in Worcester, specifically to enhance opportunities for affordable housing in the city,” said Worcester Mayor Joseph M. Petty. “We have some great momentum with units coming online, and the need for housing among the elderly and folks with disabilities is ever-growing. I am looking forward to seeing new apartments that residents will be proud to live in.”
WinnDevelopment Vice President Andrew Colbert will oversee the effort. F.W. Madigan Company, Inc., of Worcester, is serving as the general contractor with Maugel DeStefano Architects, of Harvard, MA, serving as architect. Rounding out the development team are Petersen Engineering, as Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing Engineer; The Public Archaeology Laboratory, Inc. (PAL), as historic consultant; Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (VHB) as civil engineer; Odeh Engineers, Inc., as structural engineer; and, Building Evolution Corporation (BEC) and Sustainable Comfort Inc. (SCI), as the Passive House consultants.
“We’re proud to contribute to Worcester’s resurgence with the first downtown development specifically planned to bring affordable housing to older residents,” said WinnCompanies Executive Vice President Michael O’Brien. “Residents of this community will be able to access mass transit, downtown businesses and entertainment, as well as medical and academic institutions – all within a short walk.”
The 63,000-square-foot new construction apartment building on the Boys Club site has been designed and will be built to the Passive House Institute U.S. (Phius) standard, the most rigorous energy performance standard in the world. It will be an all-electric, meaning it will not utilize fossil fuels, further advancing the Commonwealth’s zero carbon emissions goals, while creating healthy, durable, and affordable housing in the City of Worcester.
“We are thrilled to have work underway for the transformation of the Worcester Boys Club,” said Worcester City Manager Eric D. Batista. “This is an incredibly important project, which uses adaptive reuse to create affordable housing and senior living, both of which are in high demand in Worcester and throughout the state, in a sustainable manner operating entirely on electricity. Projects like this are a win-win, allowing us to provide more housing but in a way that also helps us achieve our climate goals in the Green Worcester Plan. Thank you to WinnCompanies and to our state and federal partners for their continued support of this project.”
The project’s Phius design incorporates a robust exterior envelope comprised of triple pane high-performance windows and continuous insulation, designed to drastically reduce heating and cooling loads in the building, which will be met with high-efficiency all-electric heat pump systems. Additional conservation measures incorporated in the building’s design include LED lighting, ENERGY STAR appliances, balanced ventilation with energy recovery, and low flow plumbing fixtures.
The existing, four-story, 48,000-square-foot building will meet Enterprise Green Communities design standards. Notable enhancements will be made to the windows, which will be replaced with historic replicas that offer comfort and environmental performance. The historic structure hosted one of the first Boys Clubs in the nation in 1930 and later served as Worcester Vocational High School for decades before becoming vacant in 2006.
The preservation and renovation of the Boys Club will make the building handicapped accessible and create several community amenity spaces for residents. The existing basement-level basketball court gym will be converted into a fitness center for residents and their guests. There will also be access for public and civic uses, with public programming overseen by the non-profit Preservation Worcester.
“Preservation Worcester has advocated for the re-purposing of the Boys Club building for more than a quarter of a century while this beautiful, historic structure deteriorated, detracting from all the progress Worcester was making,” said Deborah Packard, executive director of Preservation Worcester. “We are delighted that construction has begun on this incredibly challenging building. Restoring and repurposing buildings takes time; it’s expensive; and,
importantly, it takes a team. Preservation Worcester is honored to be a limited partner in the project and is pleased to play a small role in WinnDevelopment’s efforts to restore and revive this vital community asset.”
Once completed, the community will be managed by WinnResidential, the property management arm of WinnCompanies. The property, situated on the northern edge of the city’s downtown, abuts the World War One Memorial at Lincoln Square, which city officials plan to renovate simultaneously to the construction of Residences on Lincoln Square.
The project is being made possible through financing, loans and tax credits provided by the Massachusetts Executive Office for Housing and Livable Communities, the Massachusetts Housing Partnership, MassDevelopment’s Underutilized Property Program, HOME and Affordable Housing Trust funds from the City of Worcester, the U.S. National Park Service and Massachusetts Historic Commission, Rockland Trust Bank, MassHousing, and BlueHub Capital.
The property is in a Commercial Corridor Overlay District designed to encourage the preservation and redevelopment of historical, cultural and architectural assets in the city.
