Oriol Drive Project is Moving Forward

Two weeks ago, we got word that we received funding from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (HLC) to fund our Oriol Drive Project! So, we wanted to provide you with a little more background on the project. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we bought what used to be a hotel at 50 Oriol Drive. As we were seeing homelessness rise during the pandemic, we knew we had to seize this opportunity to convert a former Quality Inn & Suites hotel into long term housing. With our partners at the City of Worcester, United Way of Central Massachusetts, the Worcester Department of Public Health, and state officials, we started down the path of turning this property into permanent supportive housing (PSH). 

For several years, we worked on our plans to convert the vacant hotel into PSH and started to build our funding stack. But with the federal landscape rapidly changing, we had to pivot and adapt until we landed on our current strategy. With over $6 million from HLC, and more funding from United Way of Central Massachusetts, Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance - Home and Healthy For Good Program, Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, US Department of Housing and Urban Development, the offices of Congressman James McGovern, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, the City of Worcester, and other generous donors, we have broken this project down into two phases.

In the first phase, we’ll create 40 units of PSH for individuals who are currently unhoused. Along with housing, PSH provides optional wrap-around services to residents, including mental health services, benefits counseling, and case management. Even though the services are not mandatory, 9 out of 10 residents end up engaging in the wrap-around services offered. Data from other PSH in Worcester shows that this type of housing is extremely successful – one year later, 95% of residents are still housed. For our Oriol Drive property, we worked closely with the City of Worcester, homeless outreach experts and service providers, and the Worcester Department of Public Health to design a project that is trauma-informed and specific to the needs of its future residents. 

In the second phase of the project, we will develop 57 units of senior housing with a focus on older adults who need additional services. Seniors are the fastest growing segment of the unhoused population in Worcester and nationally. With the layered problems of social anxiety and isolation, limited public benefits and fixed incomes, and loss of traditional support systems, seniors are at greater risk for homelessness and have complex needs. These 57 units will convert the former hotel suites into studio and 1 bedroom ADA accessible apartments that are designed with seniors in mind. Service providers will be on site to deliver programs geared towards older adults.

This project has been the result of an incredible amount of teamwork, passion, and expertise. Building affordable housing is an intricate puzzle, where many moving parts have to coalesce. From the funding sources to the architects, the social workers to the landscaping, each aspect is an important piece of creating dignified, thoughtful, trauma-informed housing. 

We are grateful to our architectural partners, Davis Square Architects, who have been working hard to get as much mileage out of every square inch of the property as possible, in a way that is person-centered. We are also thankful for the work of Mike Andrade of Graves Engineering in site planning and of Todd Rodman of Seder and Chandler Law.