Making neighborhoods stronger: Former Main St. hotel to get $9.6M for affordable units

WORCESTER — The efforts to renovate the 85-unit Aurora Apartments, once a glamorous hotel along Main Street, will receive a $9.6 million boost by Boston-based affordable housing agency MassHousing.

Approved Monday, the funds will go toward the renovation and extension of affordability of the apartment building at 660 Main St. which is owned and managed by local company The Community Builders. The company has planned an estimated $10.8 million renovation.

The Aurora Apartments are considered affordable to households earning up to 60% of the area median income.

The six-story building stands out among other structures — you’ve probably driven or walked many times past its two vertical rows of metallic window frames that are contoured with details that hail from the late 19th century, since then, weathered by time with patches of green.

Built in 1897, the building opened as an elegant lodging option for businesspeople or visitors looking to have a luxurious stay in Worcester. The six-story hotel featured two function halls, a restaurant and a popular bar called Rora Bar.

It doesn’t take much to imagine the dancing to jazz music and fine dining that took place inside the hotel. Local guitarist Pete Clemente was the main event most evenings.

The building underwent interior renovations in 1929 and 1940 to stay in step with the times, but as Worcester saw a decline in industrialization in the second half of the twentieth century, businesses moved out of the city and the glamor of the Aurora began to dim.

By 1979 inspectors declared that 59 of the hotel’s rooms suffered from damaged ceilings and walls, and in March 1982 the hotel closed.

In 1985 the city sold the property to Greater Boston Community Development Inc., on the condition that it would be used for housing. Three years later, it entered the National Register of Historical Places.

According to MassHousing, the property was converted to housing immediately after its sale.

Now, of the 85 available apartments , 33 are restricted to households earning up to 60% of the area median income, 25 are restricted to households earning up to 30% of the area median income and subsidized by the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program, 22 of the units are restricted to households earning up to 50% of the area median income and subsidized by the voucher program and five of the units are restricted to households earning up to 30% of the area median income and supported by the federal Section 811 program for disabled individuals.

The units are set to remain affordable for at least 20 years, according to MassHousing.

The current owners, The Community Builders, have said that renovations will include thorough revamping of building systems and infrastructure.

"TCB is committed to providing stable housing and supportive services that make neighborhoods stronger,” Rachana Crowley, senior director of Real Estate Development at The Community Builders, said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to partner with MassHousing to preserve 85 affordable homes for residents at The Aurora.”

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Making neighborhoods stronger: Former Main St. hotel to get $9.6M for affordable units