The Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth recently released a study finding that the City of Worcester will need to produce 8,600 new housing units over the next 10 years to address the current residential shortage. In housing production demand, Worcester leads all other Massachusetts gateway cities, which are midsized urban communities that anchor regional economies around the state.
VHB has been working closely with property developers in Worcester to create both affordable and market rate housing that will alleviate the housing crisis with transformative, record-setting projects. Below we highlight three of the many residential projects that VHB is supporting throughout the City; all projects are at different stages of development, from recently approved, to under construction, to newly opened.
Synergy Office Conversion
Leading the largest office to residential conversion in Massachusetts history, Synergy Investments just received approval to renovate the former Fallon Health office building into 198 market rate residential units, with a fitness center and pool. In a smaller four-story building attached to the former office tower, Synergy plans to develop 22 affordable housing condominiums. VHB is providing site and civil engineering services for this unprecedented project, including traffic and pedestrian planning and drainage design.
Grosvenor Street Residential Development
VHB is contributing site and civil engineering services to a Northborough-based developer, Polar Views, as they plan to build a 12-unit, four story multifamily site. The building will feature parking and a lobby on the first floor with residential units on the upper level, including one affordable rental unit at 80 percent of area-median income.
Worcester Boys Club Renovation
WinnCompanies, a national leader in affordable housing development, teamed with VHB to create the first senior housing development in Worcester’s downtown area—an innovative adaptive reuse project that saves a treasured landmark. In the City’s first air rights construction project, Winn is currently constructing a new 64,000-square-foot building straddling a tunnel with a podium structure. Combined with the original building, the new development will include a total of 80 affordable, age-restricted apartment homes with state-of-the-art amenities, such as library reading rooms and a fitness center.
Real estate developers Wood Partners collaborated with VHB to build a high-end, 370-unit residential community featuring best-in-class services, like a rooftop lounge, grilling stations and firepits, and an on-site dog park. In the heart of Worcester’s “Restaurant Row,” the development offers residents a wide range of dining and entertainment options. VHB provided land use planning, engineering, and analysis services for this project, which recently opened to residents.
With these transformational projects, VHB is contributing to the addition of at least 682 units in Worcester and will continue to work closely with property developers in the area, building communities where residents can thrive.
Learn how VHB is helping address the housing shortage across New England with precedent-setting projects.
