WORCESTER, Mass. – The former Worcester Boys Club building will soon serve a new purpose as city leaders announced plans to transform the 93-year-old building into new affordable apartments.

The building, located near the intersection of Grove Street and Highland Street, has been vacant for more than 16 years. The project’s developer, Winn Companies, plans to preserve the building’s history while transforming the site into 80 affordable apartments for people 55 and older. The building will be made handicap accessible, and the project comes at a cost of $52 million.

The 48,000 square-foot site was used to serve students of Worcester Vocational High School for several decades.

City Manager Eric Batista said affordable housing, particularly for seniors, is important right now.

“It is also another shining example of how to breathe new life into an existing vacant property through adaptive reuse,” Batista said. “Just like the courthouse, it will preserve the historic character, will be repurposed for modern accommodation and is further enhanced with a new five-story addition to the building.

Some, including City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj, have been critical of Winn Development. In a statement, she said in part, “Unlike other developers receiving local tax subsidies that are being monitored weekly for worker safety, local hiring, workforce diversity and tax fraud, Winn is not being held to these basic community standards.”