Developer slashes number of affordable units in Worcester apartment proposal

WORCESTER — The developers behind a proposal to convert a vacant lot on Mason Street to 94 units of affordable housing that had received Zoning Board of Appeals approval last year plan to greatly reduce the number of affordable units on the project.

In April 2023, Kensington Management LLC submitted paperwork to build a seven-story high-rise with about 75,685 square feet of space at 48 Mason St. The property is currently a vacant lot covering 49,126 square feet.

The Zoning Board of Appeals approved a variance for relief from minimum parking requirements and the Planning Board approved the definitive site plan in May.

According to an amended application for the parking variance submitted in January, the developer is now seeking to make 15% of the units affordable for people making between 60% and 80% of the area median income. The original proposal stipulated that all the units would be affordable.

Mark Borenstein, an attorney with Bowditch & Dewey who represented Kensington Management at the 2023 Zoning Board of Appeals meeting, said in April that the developer for the Mason Street project was looking at rents affordable for those making 20% to 80% of area median income.

Fifteen percent of the 94 proposed units would translate to between 14 and 15 affordable units in the project.

The application notes that the newly proposed affordability numbers are still compliant with the city's inclusionary zoning policy.

The inclusionary zoning ordinance created a sliding scale of 60% to 80% of the area median income requirement for units deemed affordable.

The proposal includes a mix of one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units and also 66 parking spaces, along with a loading space and an exterior recreation area.

At one time, the lot was the home of Institutional Linens Inc., which was once the largest privately owned hospital laundry company in New England.

The company, beset with financial, legal and regulatory problems, closed in 1992 and the property deteriorated. In the mid-2000s, plans existed to build 19 townhome-style condominiums there.