What's Next For Worcester Hotel-To-Housing Project For Homeless

WORCESTER, MA — Following an approval last week by the Worcester Planning Board, a local housing nonprofit is eyeing a 2024 opening for a hotel-to-housing project for local homeless residents.

Last Wednesday, the planning board signed off on renovation plans for the Quality Inn along Oriol Drive. The building will have 90 units: 57 one-bedrooms and 33 studios. The units will be very low cost, with tenants paying a maximum of 30 percent of their income in rent.

And key to the project: the residents will be offered mental health and substance use services on site. The addition of those programs puts the project into the category of "supportive housing" — a method of combining housing and resources that has had positive outcomes in other parts of the U.S.

Worcester Community Housing Resources (WCHR) Executive Director Jennifer Schanck-Bolwell said the nonprofit this summer will begin the process of lining up financing for the project. That will include applying for a mix of state, city and federal funds, plus tax credits and fundraising.

With money in hand for the project, renovations will take six to nine months, Schanck-Bolwell said. WCHR could start accepting applications from tenants in early 2024.

The hotel conversion is part of a constellation of projects in Worcester that could help reduce the growing homeless population. Last week, Worcester Director of Homeless Services Eniya Lufumpa told the Human Rights Commission that there were 586 homeless people in the city as of November. Lufumpa reported about 500 homeless in the city just a few months earlier.

The Quality Inn conversion will join an under-construction 24-unit supportive housing project along Lewis Street. There are plans to build a 21-unit tiny home village off Stafford Street; that development has yet to break ground. A South Middlesex Opportunity Council along Winfield Street with 18 units received state funding almost two years ago, but it's not clear when construction will start.

Unlike traditional low-income housing, the Oriol Drive building will house local residents who need a combination of shelter and specialized care, Schanck-Bolwell said. WCHR, which already operates 112 units in 13 properties in Worcester, will find tenants through the Central Massachusetts Housing Alliance, which oversees the countywide entry system for homeless people.

Nearby residents have expressed fear that the hotel conversion may worsen conditions along Lincoln Street. The Quality Inn has very low ratings on travel websites for a range of issues, and receives frequent visits from Worcester police and firefighters. The fire department alone visited the hotel over 100 times in 2022, according to city records.

Schanck-Bolwell said the conversion will be an improvement for the neighborhood, turning a declining hotel into a solution for the region's expanding homelessness crisis whose residents will become part of the local community.

"We see it as a marked improvement because you have professional people skilled in this area managing the property and providing services," she said.