Worcester Boys Club Developer Submits Plans For 80-Unit Building

WORCESTER, MA — Development plans for the vacant Boys Club building at Lincoln Square will likely go before the Worcester Planning Board for the first time on Wednesday. The plans call for a $52 million, 80-unit project at the major intersection, which will partially cover the Ernest Johnson Tunnel to Main Street.

Winn Development first revealed plans to redevelop the site in April with 95 units of senior housing. The new plans call for a new five-story building along Lincoln Street with 64 units attached to the Boys Club building, which would contain 16 units.

The development would be restricted to people age 62 and over, and 80 percent of the units will be affordable, according to plans. The World War I memorial at Lincoln Square will remain.

"The delicate balance of existing historic architecture and the new addition will be designed to meet the standards and approvals of the National Park Service, Massachusetts Historic Commission, Worcester Historic Commission and our project partners, Preservation Worcester," Winn said in plans submitted to the city. "These are high bars to meet and exceed — we must, and we will achieve these milestones."

The plans also call for 21 parking spaces at the development, plus another 59 reserved for residents at a city-owned lot along Highland Street.

Winn Development purchased the 16 Salisbury St. Boys Club — later used as the Worcester Vocational High School, now Worcester Technical High School — building in 2019 for $300,000, according to the Worcester Registry of Deeds.

The Boys Club development is on the agenda for Wednesday's Planning Board meeting, which begins at 5:30 p.m.