It should be no longer
than this.
Barnett said that last year the organization approved proposals totaling $34.8 million in development costs, because developers often go out and seek additional money. “Financing affordable housing is not an easy task,” Barnett said. “It takes resources from many different sources. The money we will hand out includes equity from sale of tax credits, outright grants, first mortgage, financing from the sale of bonds and deferred payment loans.” Valley Affordable Housing Corporation of Cumberland is one of the developers to submit a winning application in last year’s program. Executive Director Peter Bouchard said Main Street, the Cumberland area Valley is renovating, had been referred to by local police as the worst street in town. “It was just not a comfortable place to be,” said Bouchard. “We went in and did one building, got another property, another came up through foreclosure, then three came up for foreclosure.” Soon Bouchard’s company had enough projects to use the tax credit program. They submitted an application, were awarded the funding and tax credits, and two of the buildings should be ready this week. Another four will be finished by the end of this year, and two more before spring, they predict. In renovating the buildings, Valley Affordable Housing reduced the density by four to six units, so that tenants would have more room. Since the area was the original housing for the Lonsdale Mill, the housing units get bigger as you go up the hill. In those days your position in the mill dictated where you lived. “From manager to foreman to the workers, you can see their position from the property they occupied,” Bouchard said. In creating larger units, he hopes to eliminate this antiquated sort of class distinction, as well as beautify the area. “I am amazed at how dramatically the street has changed,” he said. “It was dirty, deteriorating, and now the properties look magnificent.” Another project currently under way, that was financed in last year’s round or RHPP financing is the 32-unit apartment in the Elmwood area of Providence that Pezzuco Construction is renovating. Built in the early 1900s by a German boxer named Anthony Stephens, the building was used as a Johnson and Wales University dormitory until the early 1990s. As was done with the Valley project, the interior of the building is being altered. West Elmwood Housing Development Corporation Executive Director Sharon Conard-Wells said the decision to make the 50 dormitory units into 32 apartment units with two handicapped units was made by the architect, the property manager, the West Elmwood Housing Development Corporation, and the development consultant. “We based it on the size of the unit, density, the management challenges and the numbers to make the project work,” she said. “If you put together a good team, no one wants to compromise on quality,” Pezzuco said the interior was in terrible condition, but the structure itself, made of block stone, was in good shape. They replicated a few lintels above the windows here and there, but left most of the exterior alone. Beginning with a five-month demolition process last February, he hopes to be done by June of 2001. Pezzuco said one of the pluses to working in the area is the local workers. Al Valliere, whose company, Nation Wide Construction, also took part in part of last year’s financing also found the local workers to be a plus. “Rhode Island Housing has a minority mandate where they like you to hire from the neighborhood you’re in,” he said. “They’ve qualified seven out of our 20 workers [on this project] as minorities.” Nation Wide Housing is currently working on two projects from last year’s Rental Housing Production Program. One is a Cumberland housing project, and the other is Elmwood Commons in Providence. “These are quasi-historic structures,” he said, “They’re lovely old buildings and we do our best to maintain their character.” Valliere said that RI Housing’s process has changed a lot over the years. “I’ve been doing it since 1987,” he said, “and the process has really sophisticated since then. Now they’ve really got it down to a science.” Pezzuco agreed.
