Nonprofit completes purchase of Quality Inn, will convert it to housing for homeless
WORCESTER — A corporate entity representing a Worcester nonprofit finalized the purchase of the Quality Inn & Suites at 50 Oriol Drive Wednesday. The nonprofit plans to convert the 114-room apartment into 90 units of affordable housing for the homeless.
According to documents filed with the Worcester Registry of Deeds, the parcel of land at 50 Oriol Drive, including the hotel, was sold to Oriol Housing Associates LLC by GS Hotel Management LLC for $10.8 million.
Oriol Housing Associates LLC is a corporate entity the nonprofit Worcester Community Housing Resources used in the purchasing of the land. Both entities have an address at 11 Pleasant St. and Worcester Community Housing Resources Executive Director Jennifer Schanck-Bolwell is listed as the resident agent for the corporate entity.
Schanck-Bolwell confirmed Monday that Worcester Community Housing Resources still intends to convert the 114-room hotel on 50 Oriol Drive into 90 units of income-restricted, one-bedroom and studio apartments. Nine units will be fully accessible.
The planned conversion has been met with controversy, with a group of neighbors voicing continued opposition to the project and district councilors representing the Lincoln Street area, saying Worcester Community Housing Resources had not done enough outreach to the community.
In a March story, Schanck-Bolwell told the Telegram & Gazette that the planned apartment complex is based on a "housing first" model of providing unconditional, permanent housing to homeless people as a means to provide stability as they work to escape poverty.
The proposed project comes at a time when homelessness is on the rise in Worcester.
Neighbors have voiced concerns commonly heard from residents when housing for the homeless or shelters are proposed in their neighborhoods: A potential increase in the concentration of crime and drug use, increased traffic and lower property values.
Residents have also said the Lincoln Street neighborhood is "oversaturated" with supportive services including an addiction treatment center and the elderly nursing facility, and fear the project could undo work a neighborhood group has done to improve an area previously known for its high concentration of homeless people and number of police calls.
The Quality Inn & Suites had also been viewed as a problem area in the neighborhood.
Residents were concerned that the 90-apartment complex would be too close to Lincoln Street School, that it would bring homeless people from outside of Worcester and is not a facility that mandates sobriety.
Schanck-Bolwell has previously said people have confused the project with a shelter and future residents will have tenants rights where the property management cannot mandate they stay sober outside of their building and will allow for residents to freely stay or leave their apartments by their own will.
In addition, Schanck-Bolwell said, the agency and the staff managing the apartment complex will work to be good neighbors and cooperate with any law enforcement investigation related to a client.
In January, the city Planning Board unanimously approved the project after an hour of testimony in opposition. In response to the complaints, Planning Board members stated their belief that Housing First has been a successful model for treating homelessness.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Worcester Quality Inn sold, to become affordable housing for homeless
