Rosebrook Commons is on track to become a vibrant mixed-use development at 1747 West Main Road in Middletown, featuring six buildings with 144 residential units alongside 23,000 square feet of commercial space.
And it’s been on track for some time.
The project was first proposed more than five years ago by Derek Mesolella, principal developer with Providence-based Taction Properties LLC, who has experienced the seeming contradiction of navigating the daunting approval process on the state and local level, where a growing demand for affordable housing exists alongside public panels and confusing regulations that stand in the way of getting tenants into units.
The project, built on former state-owned land off a state-run road, must contend with several state and local agencies while relying on federal tax incentives meant to help finance low-cost housing.
Mesolella supports any legislation meant to ease the burden, but he questions whether local pushbacks in many Rhode Island communities will remain an obstacle.
“While not every project requires the involvement of the [R.I.] Department of Transportation and the [R.I.] Department of Environmental Management, over 90% of projects have planning boards, zoning boards involved, and sometimes even councils involved,” he said. “You have maybe seven board members on each of these boards. So, you might have 21 different personalities and political affiliations, all with different ideas about the site or their town. It becomes a morass.”
While a bill sponsored by Rep. Cherie L. Cruz, D-Pawtucket, and Sen. Frank A. Ciccone III, D-Providence, and approved in June 2024 as part of House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi’s 2024 housing package clarified the role of the state building code commissioner and modified statutory language to ensure a uniform interpretation and enforcement of the building code statewide in an effort to reduce much of the red tape associated with housing production in Rhode Island, more recent legislation further expands on that work.
The latest law, signed by Gov. Daniel J. McKee on June 27, creates a State Building Code Office within the R.I. Office of the State Fire Marshal to consolidate administrative responsibilities and oversight under one office while ensuring consistent application of building, rehabilitation, plumbing, electrical and fire codes statewide.
Centralizing the code authority will allow municipalities to more easily implement statewide standards, which could help simplify compliance and inspections, and potentially lower insurance costs.
The new law also restructures the membership of the Building Code Standards Committee to include three licensed engineers (mechanical, structural and electrical) along with architects, certified building/fire inspectors, public health officials, tradespeople and people with disabilities. The legislation mandates a minimum of five years of professional experience for committee members and sets the number of members needed for a quorum at 10, rather than the previously required 13.
Additionally, the legislation forms a Housing and Maintenance Subcommittee to oversee the enforcement of minimum housing and property maintenance codes that will consist of nine residents – five chosen by the main committee and four appointed by the governor with Senate approval.
The revisions to quorum requirements for the main committee are designed to facilitate board meetings more effectively.
Shekarchi spokesperson Emily Martineau said the bill’s primary objective is to build upon the framework established by the 2024 legislation sponsored by Cruz and Ciccone that reformed the State Building Code Office.
“This centralizes and streamlines processes,” she said. “For developers, time is money.”
Prolonged project timelines can diminish Rhode Island’s appeal as an investment destination, Martineau added. The state needed a standardized decision-making process.
“Even if the developer gets an answer they don’t like, some answer is better than no answer,” she said.
The R.I. Department of Administration submitted testimony to the House Committee on Housing and Municipal Government cautioning against unintended consequences that could increase the costs of housing development, which would most likely be passed on to tenants.
The department said prior analyses show an increase in construction costs within Rhode Island of millions of dollars annually. The National Multifamily Housing Council found that building code updates increased costs for multifamily housing by over 10% from 2013 to 2022.
“While the purpose of the bill is to grow the state housing production and increase the affordability of the market, the bill as currently written undermines its intent,” wrote DOA Director Jonathan Womer. “It will likely cause a substantial increase in building costs, which will be passed on to the consumer. Rent escalation will persist, and prospective homebuyers will continue to be priced out of the market.”
Whatever the initial costs, Mesolella said that housing development is too important to be left to the free market or the internal squabbles of local officials. Simplifying the building code is essential to this effort.
“It all has a cost. You must buy land and tie up money in architecture, engineering and surveys,” Mesolella said. “You do all this stuff and are stuck at the local level, having meetings continued because no one can figure out what color lamps and benches they want on the site. It’s these small things that hold projects up, and the longer it is your money sits out there not earning capital and not being a utility to the community.”
