Owners of building involved in deadly fire seek money from Worcester

WORCESTER — The entity that owns the property on 2 Gage St., the site of a fatal residential fire in May 2022, is requesting financial support from the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund to build a seven-unit residential building at the location.

According to an application submitted May 31 to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, 2 Gage Worcester LLC initially requested $472,356 from the fund designed to aid in the construction of affordable housing in the city. According to the application, the request will be reduced to the designated maximum of $471,770.

According to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund’s agenda, 2 Gage Worcester LLC is scheduled to give a presentation on the application Wednesday night.

The old building, one of the city’s traditional triple decker apartment buildings, caught fire May 14, 2022.

Four occupants of the six-unit apartment building died in the fire: Marcel Fontaine, 29; Joseph Garchali, 47; Christopher Lozeau, 53; and Vincent Page, 41.

The building was razed in June 2022.

On Sept. 29, 2022, a Worcester County grand jury indicted former resident Yvonne Ngoiri on charges related to the fire.

The counts include four counts of second-degree murder and two counts of arson of a dwelling.

Ngoiri pleaded not guilty the following day.

According to the application to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, the property owners said the new project would largely serve low-income residents who live in a poor neighborhood.

The seven-unit apartment building would include three apartments designated exclusively for households that make up to 30% of area median income. The other four units would be available to residents at all income levels, but the application said the managers will be seeking other low-income households. One unit would also be handicap accessible.

Six of the units would be three-bedroom apartments while one would be a four-bedroom apartment.

The property owners plan to have a local management company operate the new building, possibly Nexus Property Management.

This project has already been started, with projections that it will be completed in about a year and a half, according to the application. The owners are aiming for a June 2024 move-in date.

The project received a foundation permit on Feb. 28.

The application notes the rebuilding process also intends to make the site safer.

Huanchen Li, of Westford, who owned the property when it caught on fire, transferred ownership to 2 Gage Street LLC June 24, 2022.

Li is listed as the resident agent of 2 Gage Street LLC.

The entity that applied for the funding, 2 Gage Worcester LLC, also lists Li as the resident agent. The managers are listed as the previous 2 Gage Street LLC and Jaime Vargas of Marlborough.