This recently completed building has 12 one bedroom apartments that are fully occupied and the ground floor is the new home to Worcester Common Ground with a large community space.

5 Piedmont Street borders on the City of Worcester's designated Arts District and is within one of Worcester Common Ground's target neighborhoods. The immediate area is mixed use of residential and commercial, and is near our Austin Street, Chandler Street and the 9 May Street projects. We now have anchored the three major intersections of the once maligned Piedmont Street with attractive buildings.
 

We have been trying to improve the Piedmont Street area for some time now. To the rear of this site is a wonderful enclave of brick row houses, some recently restored along with a community garden owned by WCG. Just behind the site, the area known as Castle Street, lends itself to an artistic venue and currently has various artists and community activists living and working there. Stretching beyond the immediate site, just about one block in either direction, there are the YMCA, the Main South business district and an elementary school.
 

1-7 Piedmont Street also serves several clients of the MA Department of Metal Health who are capable of independent living. A unique feature of this building will be its compliance with the proposed City of Worcester "Visit-ability" standards which will allow handicapped residents and guests full access to all units and commercial spaces without handicapped barriers.

The City of Worcester, Mass Housing Partnership Fund Board, the Division of Housing and Community Development, and The Department of Metal Health Facilities Consolidation Fund (administered by CEDAC) and Bank North provided funding for the project.

9 May Street, Worcester, MA   01610 - NOW COMPLETE
and Proud Recipient of the MA Historic Commission's 2010 Preservation Award
(View Map)

9 May Street in Worcester, MA is listed on the MACRIS and the National Register. Its period of significance is 1870-1875 and 1880-1899 within the categories of Architectural/Engineering, Event, Industry, Science/Invention and Social/Humanitarian.

The building is a 60,000 square foot two story second Empire style brick structure with a walk-out basement and a fourth story beneath the slate covered mansard roof. The building plan is irregular with several expansions added during the 1870’s and 1880’s. The original building was constructed in approximately 1870. Between 1890 and WW I it was the largest Organ Reed factory in the world operated by Hammond with over 200 employees. After the organ industry demand declined the building was the home of Castle Furniture until the 1990's and thereafter it was used as a storage facility. It had been abandoned since 2001.

Worcester Common Ground acquired the building at the end of March 2006 and has been approved by all funders, the Historic Commission, the Planning Board, and the ZBA for use as 46 units of 1, 2 and 3 bedroom affordable residential rental apartments and a common community space in the May Street portion of the first floor utilizing the historic front entrance.

We put together a strong development team that includes a financial consultant, an architect, and an attorney who have experience in the reuse of mill and factory buildings. This team was led by our development director whose reputation for quality construction and attention to detail is reflected in all of our recently completed projects. The team met every obstacle of this very difficult project with vigor and it was completed on time and on budget and its' first tenants moved in December, 2008.

Two subsequent floods in July, 2009 caused serious damage to the building and a complete reconstruction on the sewer system is required to alleviate any concerns about a repeat of this problem. The affected tenants were moved to temporary housing through December, 2009 as the first floor was repaired. All of these tenants returned to their apartments and the building is fully occupied. A temporary solution to the flooding has been in operation and construction on the new sewerage plan will begin in September, 2010.

The financial structuring of this 46 unit 16 million dollar project includes MA and Federal Historic Preservation tax credits, Low Income Housing tax credits, City of Worcester HOME funds, Affordable Housing Trust funds and conventional financing. Construction financing was provided by Wainwright Bank.

The Hammond Organ Reed Factory at 9 May Street is the proud recipient of the MA Historic Commission's 2010 Preservation Award.