Colony Retirement Homes III in Worcester has been granted $8 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under the departments Green and Resilient Retrofit Program, which issues direct loans and grants to support a variety of green initiatives for eligible HUD-assisted multifamily properties.

Colony III is one of four locations for Colony Retirement Homes and is a 100-apartment retirement living community offering affordable housing to low-income seniors, according to the nonprofits website.

Colony III will use the funds to help subsidize energy efficiency and climate resilience renovations for its apartments, according to a Thursday press release from the HUD.

The climate crisis and housing crisis are intertwined, Worcester Mayor Joseph Petty said in the release. Ensuring our housing stock is more efficient promotes better health outcomes for our community, including our seniors. We are incredibly grateful for the partnership we have with federal agencies like HUD and I look forward to these improvements.

The funding is provided by the federal Inflation Reduction Act, which issued $837 million to the climate resilience program. Awards provided are used for a number of eco-conscious initiatives such as projects to improve energy or water efficiency, enhance indoor air quality or sustainability, implement the use of zero-emission electricity generation, low-emission building materials or processes, energy storage, and building electrification strategies, according to HUDs website.

The senior living facility is one of 109 properties housing more than 12,600 households and individuals awarded HUD funds to address green and climate resilience efforts. As of March 28, the GRRP has administered $544 million in funding for such projects.

This funding from HUD is an incredible opportunity to make important sustainable renovations to Colony Retirement Homes III, Worcester City Manager Eric Batista said in the release. It is critical that all of our housing stock be outfitted with energy efficient and sustainable resources as we work toward meeting the goals of the Green Worcester Plan to holistically combat the climate crisis in our growing city.

Link:
Worcester retirement home receives $8M from HUD for green renovations - Worcester Business Journal