Developers of 3 Providence housing complexes awarded project-based vouchers

THE PROVIDENCE Housing Authority recently announced that its board of commissioners approved Project Based Vouchers to subsidize 50 units of affordable housing that are under development at three different sites in the city. The vouchers are going to the developers behind the proposed Copley Chambers II and III, the Summer Street Housing building and Parcel 9 East Building. / COURTESY PROVIDENCE HOUSING AUTHORITY

PROVIDENCE – The board of commissioners of the Providence Housing Authority recently approved Project Based Vouchers to subsidize 50 units of affordable housing that are under development at three different sites in the city.

The PHA board said an annual request for proposals process guided its decision to award a total of 50 vouchers to the developers of the proposed Copley Chambers II and III, the Summer Street Housing building and Parcel 9 East Building.

“These awards help the PHA advance our strategic goal of partnering to build and preserve much-needed affordable housing in our community,” PHA Executive Director Melissa Sanzaro said in a statement about the decision. “What is especially important now is being able to secure housing units for the extremely low-income individuals and families who we serve.”

The location-based vouchers will help Providence residents considered “extremely low-income,” according to the PHA.

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The Copley Chambers II and III project, which is being developed by Marathon Construction in Upper South Providence at 206 Broad St., received eight of the project-based vouchers, offsetting the rent for eight of the 124 units that will make up new affordable housing on Broad and Summer streets in Providence.

The majority of the vouchers were provided to developer Crossroads Rhode Island, the nonprofit agency serving the homeless in the city, receiving 34 vouchers for the 177-unit Summer Street Housing building, which is meant to replace the existing Travelers Aid Housing “tower” property at 160 Broad St.

Crossroads plans to specifically target formerly homeless individuals and veterans for the subsidized housing in Upper South Providence, with 10 of those vouchers dedicated to military veterans with the assistance of the federal HUD-VASH program, a collaboration between the Department of Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing.

The rest of the vouchers were assigned to property development company Pennrose for its 61-unit, mixed-income Parcel 9 East Building that’s being proposed on former Interstate 195 land in the Fox Point neighborhood.

In total, the awarded projects are creating 361 units of new housing, with all of them expected to come online in 2024 and 2025, according to the PHA.

The Project Based Vouchers are a way for public housing authorities to dedicate a portion of their housing choice vouchers to specific developments, as opposed to tenant-based vouchers that follow an eligible tenant if they move.

The PHA currently has 237 project-based vouchers under contract and administers around 2,500 tenant-based vouchers, in addition to owning and operating more than 2,600 units of public housing.

A manager of the HUD-VASH program in Providence thanked the PHA for working to include veterans housing among the newly issued housing subsidies.

“The VA Providence Healthcare System has been proud to partner with the Providence Housing Authority on this request for proposals,” said Lisa Luedke, program manager for the HUD-VASH program for the VA Providence. “We are excited for the opportunity to dedicate 10 HUD-VASH vouchers at the Crossroads’ Summer Street development. … We are confident that this development will meet their unique needs of our veterans.”

Marc Larocque is a PBN contributing writer. 

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