Worcester, MA – 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 5-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.
The new community will feature a total of 19 studio apartments, 46 one-bedroom units and 15 two-bedrooms apartments. Of the apartments, 68 will be leased to households earning up to 60% of Area Median Income (AMI) and 12 units will be available to those earning up to 30% AMI. Eleven 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.
WinnDevelopment vice president, Andrew Colbert, will oversee the effort with F.W. Madigan Company, Inc. serving as the general contractor and Maugel DeStefano Architects serving as architect. Rounding out the development team are Petersen Engineering, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineer; The Public Archaeology Laboratory, Inc. (PAL), historic consultant; Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc. (VHB), civil engineer; Odeh Engineers, Inc., structural engineer; and Building Evolution Corporation (BEC) and Sustainable Comfort Inc. (SCI), Passive House consultants.
The 63,000sf new construction apartment building on the Boys Club site will be all-electric and will be built to the Passive House Institute U.S. (Phius) standard. 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, 4-story, 48,000sf building will meet Enterprise Green Communities design standards. Enhancements will be made to the windows, which will be replaced with historic replicas designed to 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 nonprofit Preservation Worcester.
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.
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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.
