Leaders celebrate completion of Voke Lofts
PHOTO/EMILY MICUCCI
Gilbert Winn, principal of WinnCompanies, addresses the gathering Monday at a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the completion of the 84-unit apartment building on Salisbury Street in Worcester.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Voke Lofts apartments on Salisbury Street on Monday morning marked the culmination of a two-year project that transformed the former Worcester Vocational Technical School into 84 apartments, an important piece of the city’s Gateway Park master plan.
Gilbert Winn, principal at Boston-based developer WinnCompanies, told the crowd gathered in the courtyard outside the nearly 120,000 square-foot brick building that 85 percent of the units have been leased, just 30 days after the apartments were made available.
Half of the units, which include one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments, are reserved for renters earning between 30 and 60 percent of the area’s median income, while the other half are being offered at market rates.
Featuring industrial design elements, like exposed beams and piping, the Voke Lofts is WinnCompanies’ second Worcester project, after the firm opened the Canal Lofts in the former Chevalier Building on Water Street in 2012. Located across the street from Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s Gateway Park, the Voke Lofts will create needed housing options in downtown Worcester.
“It’s certainly another project that anchors this district,” said Worcester City Councilor Philip Palmieri, who represents District 2, where the Voke Lofts are located. (Disclosure: The Worcester Business Journal rents office space from Palmieri.)
U.S. Rep. James P. McGovern, D-Worcester, was one of several speakers at Monday’s event. McGovern, who is credited with supporting the project on a federal level, said redeveloping the former school wasn’t always straightforward, but he called WinnCompanies “truly visionary” in seeing it through.
“I can’t wait to see these units filled with happy tenants who will be welcomed into this neighborhood with open arms,” McGovern said.
McGovern thanked city leaders and state officials who joined forces to help plan and finance the project, which was estimated to cost $32.8 million when they broke ground for it in August 2012. The Worcester Business Development Corp. had purchased the vacant site from the city for $1.2 million in 2010 before selling it to Winn.
According to Winn, the project received financial support from the Patrick administration, the Massachusetts Historical Commission, the National Park Service, the city of Worcester, and MassHousing.
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