Affirmative Investments and Colony Retirement Homes asked the Worcester Affordable Housing Trust Fund on Sept. 30 for a $400,000 grant toward the second phase of the Colony on Grove redevelopment, a request the developer said represents about 1.12% of the project’s cost.

“ We are requesting $400,000 from the trust, which makes up about 1.12% of our total development costs,” said Craig Nicholson, development consultant for Affirmative Investments. The applicants said the combined $650,000 in city requests (including other city home funds) would leverage about $35.1 million in private and public financing for the overall redevelopment.

The proposal would demolish 36 existing units in the building called Beach and replace them with 48 units, preserving 36 and adding 12 net new units. Nicholson said the full four‑phase plan will replace 139 existing units across the site with 220 total units, with buildings from three to five stories and passive‑house certification for energy performance.

Trustees pressed the presenters on unit counts, accessibility and relocation. “So there will be 12 new units incorporated into the Colony on Grove Beach because we're demolishing 36 existing units building 48,” Nicholson said. He also said the project will include roughly 10% fully ADA‑accessible units (about five units) and that the existing units are not ADA compliant.

On relocation, Nicholson said three buildings tied to the first phase are vacant and the developer has contracted a relocation manager and reserved vacancies across other Colony properties. “We have a healthy relocation budget... all the packing, all the moving, all the any increase in rent, that would take place would all be a part of the project's cost,” he said.

Trustees also asked about cost estimating and schedule. Nicholson said Apple (phase 1) received a selected general contractor and that the Beach plans were about 85% complete; combined bidding for both phases is expected to yield savings. He projected a realistic ground‑breaking in May–June 2026, contingent on bond volume cap and closing steps expected in 2026.

The applicants did not present a final income mix detail during the presentation; Nicholson said follow‑up with staff would provide the exact counts for households at 30% and 60% of area median income but stated roughly 15% of units would be at or below 30% AMI and that much of the existing population is served by HUD Section 8 vouchers.

Next steps: trustees will score the application as part of the Trust Fund’s Tier 1 review; scoring is due to staff by Oct. 8, with the board scheduling a scoring review meeting for Oct. 22.