The Menkiti Group has received a $3.6-million state tax credit to help convert a 171-year-old Downtown Worcester building into 48 apartments.
The Washington, D.C.-based developer was awarded the tax break as part of the state’s Housing Development Incentive Program, the Gov. Maura Healey Administration announced Thursday. HDIP aims to increase housing opportunities in Massachusetts’ 26 Gateway Cities.
Menkiti Group is redeveloping the site’s upper floors of the building at 401-409 Main St. into apartments, including five affordable units reserved for households earning no more than 60% of the area median income. Menkiti had previously done work on the building’s exterior and built out a Bank of America branch location on the first floor.
The project previously received a 10-year tax increment exemption from the City of Worcester, which will see the property save $613,211 in taxes over the life of the deal. Obtaining a municipal tax break is a requirement for receiving HDIP tax credits from the state.
The Worcester tax exemption was approved by the City Council on a 6-4 vote, with opponents expressing concern about alleged wage theft by subcontractors used by Menkiti on other projects.
The project is estimated to cost around $27 million.
Known as the Clark Block, the building dates back to the 1850s and was the former longtime home of Shack’s Clothes before the business closed in 2017, according to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.
Menkiti’s development was the lone Central Massachusetts project to receive a tax credit in this round of funding. Since 2023, the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities has awarded HDIP tax credits to 52 projects representing 3,404 housing units.
Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the real estate and banking & finance industries.
