Home Real Estate Housing Groundbreaking ceremony held for ONE Neighborhood Builders’ affordable housing project

Groundbreaking ceremony held for ONE Neighborhood Builders’ affordable housing project

By

Katie Castellani

-

06/28/2024

groundbreaking — STATE AND LOCAL leaders on Friday broke ground for affordable housing development in Federal Hill. From left: Tony Lyons, managing director & relationship manager of National Equity Fund,; executive director of Rhode Island LISC Jeanne Cola; Providence Mayor Brett P. Smiley; Jennifer Hawkins, CEO and president of ONE Neighborhood Builders; House Speaker Joseph K. Shekarchi; Providence City Council President Rachel Miller; U.S. Sen. Jack Reed; State Sen. Samuel Bell; and R.I. Executive Director of RIHousing Carol Ventura, /PBN PHOTO/KATIE CASTELLANI

PROVIDENCE – State and local leaders gathered Friday to break ground on ONE Neighborhood Builders’ affordable housing development in Federal Hill. The project, dubbed The Avenue, is ONE Neighborhood Builders largest housing development yet with 85 affordable housing units and a more than $32 million investment. The project will combine 39 newly constructed apartments at

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PROVIDENCE – State and local leaders gathered Friday to break ground on ONE Neighborhood Builders’ affordable housing development in Federal Hill. The project, dubbed The Avenue, is ONE Neighborhood Builders largest housing development yet with 85 affordable housing units and a more than $32 million investment. The project will combine 39 newly constructed apartments at 434 Atwells Avenue and the preservation and “re-syndication” of 46 affordable apartments, previously known as Elmwood Neighborhood Revitalization II, throughout 13 buildings in the Elmwood neighborhood. “This crowd requires no convincing that Rhode Island needs to ramp up its housing supply. At the same time ensure existing housing stock is preserved – especially the affordable housing stock,” said Jennifer Hawkins, president and CEO of ONE Neighborhood Builders. “This development combined these two important goals.” All of the units will be for low-income households with 25% reserved for extremely low-income households. Construction on the units is expected to take around 18 months and the project will house an estimated 220 residents with a mix of studio, one, two and three-bedroom units, Hawkins said. Residents can start applying for the units now and the leasing process will begin when construction on the project is six months from being completed. Rehabilitation of each of the existing 46 units is expected to take around two weeks and residents in those units will be temporarily relocated during the construction, Hawkins said. Hawkins also said the units are all electric and equipped with rooftop solar energy. “I believe that building sustainably is no longer an option and it’s our responsibility,” Hawkins said, noting One Neighborhood Builders committed to making all development projects electric a few years ago. “We can and must build affordable housing that’s also sustainable.” Funding for the project came from ten different sources, including around $802,000 from the City of Providence Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Hawkins said these city funds were crucial because they helped fill a last-minute funding gap from increased borrowing and construction costs. Other funding sources for the project were the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program, which is a congressional appropriation from U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., as well as state and federal funds from RIHousing. Speakers at the groundbreaking praised the project as necessary to boosting and preserving the state’s affordable housing stock, but emphasized more needs to be done. “This project behind me is exactly what we need: a collaborative effort by everybody and an all hands on deck approach…” House Speaker Joseph K. Shekarchi said. Hawkins and Shekarchi were joined by Reed, state Sen. Samuel Bell, D-Providence, Providence city council president Rachel Miller, R.I. Executive Director of RIHousing Carol Ventura, executive director of Rhode Island Local Initiatives Support Corporation Jeanne Cola and managing director & relationship manager of National Equity Fund Tony Lyons. Housing secretary Stefan Pryor, who announced he is stepping down from his role Thursday, was slated to attend the event but was absent. Katie Castellani is a PBN staff writer. You may contact her at Castellani@PBN.com.