🔒Wormtown Brewery landlord to develop 80-unit affordable housing complex in West Boylston

Worcester-based Branded Realty Group is developing a mixed-use site in West Boylston into a three-building site featuring 80 residential units and retail space, as part of a joint effort between Branded and West Boylston to bring more affordable housing to the town. BRG is cleared for sitework and hopes to begin construction at a roughly five-acre site located between Pierce Street and West Boylston Street this spring. The project, named Gates Brook Place, will include three buildings with a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom units, 25% of which will be designated as affordable. The site will contain eight commercial units spread across the first floor of two of the buildings. The project was the result of the use of the Local Initiative Program, a state program encouraging the creation of affordable housing through the cooperation of municipalities and developers.

The 40B process allowed for a streamlined local approval process, with the project’s affordable units allowing West Boylston to move about to the 10% affordable housing threshold, said Robert Branca, who leads Branded Realty Group along with Matthew Doyle. Branca said West Boylston being below the 10% threshold could have impacted its state funding and opened the door to other, larger 40B developments. The project has received all necessary local approvals and BRG is clear to begin demolition and sitework, Branca said. Since the project is located on a state road, it still needs approval from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, which Branca is hopeful it will receive soon. BRG bought the four parcels comprising the site for a combined $4.98 million in 2023. The site includes the former location of a Veterans of Foreign Wars lodge, which was demolished in 2017, according to Town of West Boylston property records. The parcels received a combined 2025 tax assessment value of $1.6 million. Branca is an operator of Dunkin’ franchises, serving on its national Brand Advisory Council as the Franchisee Chair of the Dunkin’ Northeast US Region, according to the website for the International Franchise Association. BRG redeveloped the location of Worcester’s historic El Morocco restaurant into an apartment complex and a former Buick dealership at 72 Shrewsbury St. into a retail property, which includes tenants Volturno Pizza Napoletana and Wormtown Brewery. Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the manufacturing and real estate industries.