PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Monday for two affordable housing developments in the Olneyville neighborhood of Providence.
ONE Neighborhood Builders, which has roots in Olneyville, built eight townhouse-style apartments on Bowdoin Street and nine apartments on Delaine Street that will soon be available for households earning a certain percentage of the area’s median income.
Six of the apartments on Delaine Street are for households earning less than 60% of the median income, while the other three are for those earning less than 30% of the median income.
The Bowdoin Street project was built following a deadly house fire in 2018 that destroyed three homes and displaced two dozen people. Housing is available to those earning between 50-80% of the median income in the area.
Both projects are near public transportation and community services, officials noted.
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Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza said people who have invested and raised families in these neighborhoods are the first ones affected by the housing market boom, but now there’s hope through more affordable options.
“Something about this project and what’s happening across this street has a level of permanence that Delaine Street hasn’t had in such a long time,” Elorza said. “It really starts block by block, and that expands out to community-wide change.”
Sen. Jack Reed said the Bowdoin Street modular apartments were $54 cheaper per square foot to build.
“That means we can do more with the resources we have and we have to do more,” Reed said.
The projects benefited from $3.8 million dollars of federal funding; $1.7 million went toward the Bowdoin Street project and $2.1 million went toward Delaine Street.
“It’s particularly critical regarding the need for affordable housing in the state of Rhode Island,” Reed added. “And not just the state of Rhode Island — this is a national problem of extraordinary importance.”
Elorza said the 17 apartments will be ready for families to start moving in within three months.
