Worcester Boys Club Faces $2.2 Million Funding Gap, Asks For Bigger City Subsidy

WORCESTER, MA — The developer behind the Worcester Boys Club senior housing development is getting a bigger subsidy, and more time to gather financing for a project that's been brewing since April 2021.

WinnDevelopment vice president Michael O'Brien, who was Worcester's city manager between 2004 and 2014, went to the city's Affordable Housing Trust Fund Wednesday to ask for an extension of a previous subsidy set to expire this month until July 31. O'Brien also asked the trust fund for an additional $245,000 for the project.

O'Brien said he hopes to close on financing for the project by May, but said there's a more than $2.2 million gap the project needs to move ahead. The $245,000 from the housing trust fund will be combined with $2 million from the state to close the gap, he said. The $2.2 million gap came from an unexpected $1 million bill from National Grid to hook up power, and the remaining $1.2 million is due to increased labor and materials costs, O'Brien said.

The trust fund board granted O'Brien's request for the extension and the additional $245,000. The trust fund gave the project $1.75 million in December 2022.

The Worcester Boys Club development was first announced in April 2021, with construction anticipated to begin in 2023. The project was the subject of a press event in November featuring state Secretary of Housing and Livable Communities Ed Augustus — who served as city manager until May 2022 — and WinnCompanies executives celebrating the start of work on the project.

If the project does close on financing in May, O'Brien said it would take about 18 months to complete.

The $52 million development would create 80 units of housing for people over age 62. Twenty-three units would be affordable for people earning up to 15 percent of the local area median income, and the remaining 57 would be affordable for people earning up to 60 percent of the local area median income.

The project is the latest in Worcester to face delays due to a economic factors. Developers behind a 105-unit project on the former Fairway Beef site and a 375-unit building on the site of the former Urban Smokestack Barbecue restaurant have sought to extend zoning approvals recently, citing trouble accessing financing and construction costs. The property where a 145-unit building in the City Square area downtown was set to rise is now up for sale, according to This Week In Worcester.

Worcester's Affordable Housing Trust Fund was created in late 2021 with $15 million from the city's $146 million award from the pandemic American Rescue Plan stimulus. The trust fund distributes the money to projects that create affordable housing, with a subsidy cap of $2 million per development, or $25,000 per unit. The fund has $650,000 left from that initial $15 million as of this week.