Worcester Hotel Change To Supportive Housing Goes To Planning Board

NOTE: The hearing for this project was postponed by the Planning Board to a meeting in January.

WORCESTER, MA — A proposal to convert a Worcester hotel into permanent supportive housing will go before the Planning Board Wednesday, and neighbors living near the site see the meeting as their only chance to voice concerns about the project.

The Worcester Community Housing Resources nonprofit wants approval from the Planning Board to convert the Quality Inn along Oriol Drive into 90 units of supportive housing. Along with shelter, the Lexington-based nonprofit Elliot Community Services would provide security and services like counseling, behavioral health and substance abuse care at the site.

The Quality Inn is located off Lincoln Street near the Lincoln Square shopping plaza, an area where homeless residents often gather. Some neighbors aligned under the Northern Lincoln Street Neighborhood Alliance have expressed outrage over the proposal following a meeting in mid-November with city leaders and local elected officials.

In recent days, the neighbors have papered the surrounding area with letters imploring residents to show up to the Planning Board meeting on Wednesday to oppose the project.

In the letter, the neighbors say they have not been given key information about the project, including the long-term success of supportive housing projects and data on "disorder levels" near hotel conversions. They are also opposed to allowing people actively using drugs to be allowed to live near the hotel site, which is close to the Lincoln Street K-6 school.

"Given the size of this facility, this will result in a large amount of drug trafficking and public intoxication in the school zone, business corridor and in the facility itself," the letter said.

Hotel-to-housing conversions have been seen by social service agencies as a good solution for a shortage of affordable housing. The projects are quicker and less expensive than building from scratch, although often face opposition. The Pine Street Inn is seeking a hotel conversion in Dorchester — but neighbors are opposing it, saying they support the idea, just not in their backyard.

"This facility will be used to take an unmanageable and disproportionate amount of people experiencing chronic homelessness from areas like Polar Park and the West Side/Park Ave area and hide them between several low-income housing projects and their elementary school," the Lincoln Street letter continued.

Worcester Patch called a phone number on the bottom of letter, but did not immediately hear back.

Meanwhile, Worcester is heading into winter with a higher homeless population compared to one year ago. On the city's west side, some residents are upset about a new shelter opening at a Pleasant Street church following the closure of the winter emergency shelter Hotel Grace earlier this year. The new 60-bed shelter will close in March.

WCHR's plans call for a total interior renovation of the Quality Inn, plus a few exterior improvements like filling in a swimming pool, adding 25 parking spaces and replacing windows and doors.

The Planning Board typically only verifies that building proposals fit with city regulations, and can make applicants meet certain conditions before granting full approval. Wednesday's meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall and virtually.