PROVIDENCE – Plans for a five-story, 176-unit affordable housing apartment building on a vacant site in Upper South Providence were unanimously approved by the City Plan Commission, despite concerns from neighborhood residents about littering, loitering and illegal activities.
The City Plan Commission voted 5-0 on April 19 to approve the preliminary plan submitted by the nonprofit homeless service provider Crossroads Rhode Island for a 27,500-square-foot building at 94 Summer St., consisting completely of one-bedroom units that are all considered affordable housing for people at 30% area median income. The residents of the property would be expected to pay 30% of their income as rent, while those who are unemployed would not be expected to pay.
The new apartment building is meant to replace the existing Travelers Aid Housing “tower” property that contains 176 single room occupancy units at 160 Broad St., providing 500-square-feet apartments that will nearly triple the amount of living space for residents of the current Crossroads property located 0.2 miles away.
Karen Santilli, chief executive officer for Crossroads, said the project will convert “an abandoned and blighted surface parking lot into a beautiful apartment for 176 people who already live in this neighborhood.” Santilli said the apartments at 160 Broad St. are “obsolete and are not conducive to positive living conditions for the residents.”
The building will have 13 parking spaces on the Stewart Street side, even though no parking is required in this Transit Oriented Development District located in a C-2 Zone, said John J. Garrahy, a local attorney representing Crossroads.
Garrahy emphasized that the proposal required no variances or adjustments, which are commonly sought from the City Plan Commission by developers behind other proposals.
“It’s a fully compliant project,” Garrahy said. “The project will be truly life-changing for the residents who now reside in the tower and for the city.”
The 94 Summer St. would produce one-third of its own energy on site with a 270-kilowatt rooftop solar array, with the balance of all electricity coming from off-site solar through contracts for remote net metering, according to Crossroads. KITE Architect is the architect and designer for the project.
All units will feature private bathrooms, full kitchens, living rooms, storage and closet space, Santilli said. Each floor will have group meeting space, she said, and there will be an interior courtyard providing “green space for the residents and their guests.”
The building will feature a leasing office, but otherwise there are no commercial uses for the building, Santilli said, and no food trucks will be allowed on site.
During a public comment period, Ward 11 City Councilwoman Mary Kay Harris spoke out against the project, while stating that she is in favor of more affordable housing.
“Crossroads has not been a really good neighbor,” Harris said. “There’s no way to report things that we see that go on in the neighborhood. There’s a lot of crime that happens. There’s a lot of violence.”
Alexandrea Gonzalez, executive director of a group called Gather Together United As One, who said that she was formerly homeless, told the commission that the neighborhood was unified against the project.
“Nobody in the whole community wants this project unless your benefitting personally or financially,” Gonzalez said.
In response to community concerns, after previously holding a neighborhood outreach meeting Santilli said Crossroads is creating a community liaison position. The project will feature a comprehensive plan for lighting security and safety around the building, she said. As far as litter, Santilli said trash management at the Summer Street building would involve an enclosed loading dock, with no open dumpsters.
The commission received letters of support for the project from the nonprofit One Neighborhood Builders, the Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness and a group of occupants of the Broad Street tower building.
The commission also received a letter of opposition from the south providence neighborhood association, which warned that the commission would be violating the U.S. Fair Housing Act by concentrating poverty in this area of the city.
However, members of the commission and Robert Azar, deputy director of the Providence Department of Planning and Development, warned that the commission could be opening itself up to violations of federal civil rights by denying the project over concerns over the type of people it would bring to Summer Street, especially since the proposal conforms with the city zoning.
“In fact, if you were to deny a project that conforms to zoning on the basis of who is living in this facility, namely people with disabilities and people of color, that actually would be a red flag, when it comes to a violation of the Fair Housing Act,” Azar said.
Commissioner Nicole Verdi expressed the same concerns, and said that opponents of the project who believe it somehow violates the Fair Housing Act could sue and let the courts settle it. Verdi also noted that the commission is often pushing for more housing and specifically more affordable housing.
“Are (Crossroads) perfect? No. Do they need more funding? Yes,” Verdi said. “I know countless folks that have said Crossraods has changed their lives in a positive way. (The project) is fully zoning compliant. From what I’ve seen here, they’ve gone above and beyond what’s required.”
In December Crossroads was awarded $4 million in funding for the Summer Street affordable housing project from the state’s Housing Resources Commission. It was not immediately clear how much the project would cost overall. Providence Business News reached out on Thursday to a spokesperson for the organization, who said he’s working to provide that information.
The commission said the project is now able to move forward with final plan approval being delegated to Department of Planning and Development staff.
Marc Larocque is a PBN staff writer. Contact him at Larocque@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter @LaRockPBN.
