Central Building
Worcester, MA – MassHousing has closed on a total of $5.1 million in affordable housing financing to support the redevelopment of Worcester’s Central Building. The financing will allow the Central Building Development Group to transform a vacant former office building in downtown Worcester into a new, 55-unit mixed-income housing community that will include 14 workforce housing units.
The general contractor is Dellbrook JKS. The architect is The Architectural Team, and the management agent is Maloney Properties.
There will be one studio unit, 17 one-bedroom apartments, 34 two-bedroom apartments, and three three-bedroom apartments.
Eight of the 55 new apartments will be for lower-income households earning at or below 50% of the area median income and will be subsidized by Section 8 Housing Assistance Payment vouchers. An additional 28 units will be affordable for households earning at or below 60%. Fourteen apartments will be workforce housing units for moderate-income households earning at or below 70%, and five units will be rented at market rates. The area median income for Worcester is $85,800 for a family of four.
—
MassHousing is supporting the redevelopment of the Central Building, by providing a $3.7 million permanent loan and $1.4 million in workforce housing funding from the Agency’s $100 Million Workforce Housing Initiative. The project also received approximately $12 million through an allocation of federal and state Low-Income Housing Tax Credits by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), more than $3 million in direct affordable housing funding from DHCD, $1.2 million in HOME funds from the City of Worcester, and approximately $5.3 million through allocations of federal and state historic tax credits.
The Central Building, located at 332 Main Street, was built in 1925 and operated as an office building for many years. Prior to the current redevelopment effort, the property had been vacant for several years, and was considered for demolition. The commitment of affordable housing, workforce housing, and historic resources enabled the property’s preservation and reuse.
