Worcester Business Journal

12 Worcester Business Journal | November 14, 2022 | wbjournal.com could become 200 units, he said. "Six years ago, I would have told you that we had no bandwidth for this kind of development. Our focus was more on cleaning up our own properties," he said. Working with a developer Corrales has hired WHA Chief Operating Officer Peter Proulx to get the development aspect of the WHA moving, and Corrales plans to add staff for development. "With each of our projects we expand our bandwidth, our potential of doing more with the next project," said Proulx. e first such project is the redevel- opment of the Curtis Apartments in the Great Brook Valley neighborhood. e WHA is partnering with Boston devel- oper Trinity Financial on the project. Trinity Financial previously developed Courthouse Los, a 118-unit mixed-in- come development of the former Worcester County Courthouse on Main Street. e project, completed in 2021, offers 118-units to tenants of a range of incomes from 30% of the area median income to full market rate. e company has partnered with housing authorities around Greater Boston, New York City, and Connecticut to redevelop old projects and build new affordable developments. Curtis Apartments, built in 1951, is a 372-unit state family housing develop- ment, offering one-, two-, and three-bed- room apartments to residents making less than 30% AMI. e buildings do not have a sprinkler system, nor did they have elevators until they were added 20 years ago on the outside of buildings. "It's costing an awful lot of money just keeping the lights on. at's part of the problem when you're maintaining an old property that is 75 years old," said Corrales. "And intended to be there for 40 years," said Proulx. e proposed redevelopment would replace the existing buildings with mod- ern structures and add 155 units. e redevelopment will add units affordable to tenants earning 60% and 80% AMI, and some market-rate units. e project will take place in phases, with phase one expected to start in sum- mer or fall of 2023. In the $90-million phase one, three buildings containing 90 units will be demolished and replaced with two buildings offering 129 units, 90 of which will be for the current tenants and the others making less than 30% AMI. e capacity for accessible units will expand as the new buildings will have elevators. "is is a good model for future devel- opment: how they involve the commu- nity, their level of communication," said Sean Rose, Worcester city councilor, whose District 1 includes the Curtis Apartments. Rose worked near municipalities in Greater Boston and Connecticut where Trinity previously partnered with hous- ing authorities, and he said Trinity effec- tively reached out to the community. Keeping people housed Trinity has formed a corporate entity with WHA to develop the property, which will lease the land from WHA. Hous- ing authorities can not borrow against their own properties, so the partnership with Trinity allows for $160 million in financing for the project. "We are in this for the long haul," said Patrick Lee, CEO of Trinity Financial. Trinity's corporate entity will have 75- 99-year leases on the properties. Lee said this guarantees the affordability of the apartments, and in a worst-case scenario, if the WHA feels that Trinity is not doing its job managing the property, it can hire another property manager. Trinity will relocate residents, demol- ish the existing buildings, build the new buildings, and manage the development going forward. e developer works with a Boston-based organization called Housing Opportunities Unlimited to find temporary housing for residents. "Housing Opportunities Unlimit- ed personally meets with every single household, and they do an assessment of what that family needs, what are their desires. Some folks may want to stay in their neighborhood or some folks may want to go to another neighborhood be- cause that's where their support system is," said Corrales. e situation is different than else- where in the city where older housing in need of repair is purchased by devel- opers, who then displace the residents, said Leah Bradley, CEO of the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance, which is dedicated to preventing homelessness. e WHA residents are "not going to lose housing. Of course they'll have to leave the units, but the WHA has a great plan to phase it in so that folks can remain housed," Bradley said. Changing the neighborhood e redevelopment with more mixed-income units will bring income and racial diversity of income to the Great Brook Valley neighborhood. "e goal is to have as much diversity on one spot as possible," Rose said. "e waitlists for public housing are long, but people in the workforce at 60, 70, 80% AMI also need housing." By creating a neighborhood with more mixed incomes, Corrales said the new Curtis Apartments can break up a concentration of poverty and create a more vibrant community. "For a number of years, I would say that there were a number of folks in the community that were happy just to have every poor person go live in Great Brook Valley," he said. If people only see poverty around them, then that's all they know, Bradley said. Mixed-rate neighborhoods allow A rendering of the planned redevelopment of Curtis Apartments RENDERING | COURTESY OF THE WORCESTER HOUSING AUTHORITY Sean Rose, Worcester city councilor for District 1 Aging buildings will be replaced with contemporary structures with added accessibility and safety. Continued from page 11 PHOTO | EDD COTE

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