【中美创新时报2024年7月5日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）将位于伍斯特 One Chestnut Place 的 Fallon Health 前总部改建为 8700 万美元的计划获得了财政支持，因为该项目已获得马萨诸塞州住房开发激励计划的 250 万美元奖励。《伍斯特商业杂志》记者艾瑞克·凯西（Eric Casey）对此作了下述报道。
198 套公寓改建是唯一一个获得奖励的马萨诸塞州中部项目，该奖励是州政府支持门户城市住房开发的举措的一部分。总共有 13 个项目获得了 2700 万美元的奖励，州长莫拉·希利（Maura Healey）政府称这是该计划历史上最大的一笔奖励。
“我们在减税方案中扩大了住房开发激励计划 (HDIP)，因为它在刺激门户城市住房开发和降低成本方面有着良好的记录，”希利在周二宣布获奖的新闻稿中表示。“我们的门户城市是工业和文化的重要中心，同时也能够帮助提供满足需求所需的住房。”
将栗子广场（One Chestnut Place ）改建为 198 套公寓的计划是将前办公空间改造成急需住房的少数尝试之一，这项任务在财务和后勤方面都具有挑战性。
负责该项目的波士顿房地产投资公司协同投资（Synergy Investments）在 2 月份告诉伍斯特市，预计改建将花费 7300 万美元。
Synergy 还经营位于伍斯特主街 446 号的 Glass Tower 大楼，该公司已为该项目申请税收增量豁免，其中包括将附近的 Two Chestnut Place 改建为 22 套经济适用房，耗资 1400 万美元。
获得税收增量豁免是项目获得州住房开发激励计划资助的必要条件。伍斯特市议会在 3 月 12 日的会议上以 10 比 0 的投票结果批准了为该项目提交 HDIP 申请的计划。
马萨诸塞州中部其他将办公室改造为多户住宅的计划包括尝试将位于 Lizotte Drive 130 号的长期空置的马尔伯勒（Marlborough）办公楼改造成公寓大楼，以及将伍斯特市中心的 Slater Building 改造成混合用途公寓楼。
One Chestnut Place 的建设计划于今年夏天某个时候开始，尽管马萨诸塞州中部许多与住房相关的建设项目由于劳动力和供应成本带来的挑战以及获取资金的困难而面临延误或彻底取消。
Eric Casey 是《伍斯特商业杂志》的一名撰稿人，主要报道制造业和房地产行业。
题图：将 One Chestnut Place 办公楼改建为 198 套公寓的计划获得了州政府 250 万美元的奖励。（EDD COTE）
附原英文报道：
Plan to convert former Fallon HQ into 198 apartments receives $2.5M from state
PHOTO | EDD COTE
Plans to convert the One Chestnut Place office building into a 198-unit apartment building has received a $2.5-million award from the state.
By Eric Casey
The $87-million effort to convert the former headquarters of Fallon Health at One Chestnut Place in Worcester has received a financial boost, as the project has been awarded $2.5 million as part of the Massachusetts Housing Development Incentive Program.
The 198-unit apartment conversion was the only Central Massachusetts project to receive an award as part of the state initiative to support housing development in Gateway Cities. In total, $27 million was awarded to 13 projects in what the Gov. Maura Healey Administration is calling the largest amount in the program’s history.
“We expanded the HDIP program in our tax cuts package because it has a proven track record of spurring housing development in Gateway Cities and lowering costs,” Healey said in a Tuesday press release announcing the awards. “Our Gateway Cities are vital centers for industry and culture while also being positioned to help provide the housing we need to meet the demand.”
The plans to convert One Chestnut Place into 198 apartment units is one of a handful of attempts to convert former office space into much-needed housing, a task that can be both financially and logistically challenging.
Synergy Investments, the Boston-based real estate investment firm behind the project, told the City of Worcester in February it expects the conversion to cost $73 million.
Synergy, which also operates the Glass Tower building at 446 Main St. in Worcester, has requested a tax increment exemption for the project, which includes the $14-million conversion of nearby Two Chestnut Place into 22 affordable units.
The issuance of a tax increment exemption is a requirement for a project to receive funding from the state’s Housing Development Incentive Program. The City Council approved the plan to submit a HDIP application for the project by a 10-0 vote during a March 12 meeting.
Other office-to-multifamily plans in Central Massachusetts include an attempt to convert a long-empty Marlborough office building at 130 Lizotte Drive into an apartment complex and an effort to convert the Slater Building in downtown Worcester into a mixed-use apartment building.
Construction at One Chestnut Place is scheduled to begin sometime this summer, although many housing-related construction projects in Central Massachusetts have dealt with delays or outright cancellations due to the challenges brought about by labor and supply costs, as well as difficulties accessing funding.
Eric Casey is a staff writer at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the manufacturing and real estate industries.
