RI Housing will loan these housing projects $185M. Here's where it's going

PROVIDENCE − The R.I. Housing Board voted to issue $185 million in bonds last week to cover low-interest loans for 11 income-restricted housing projects, which will total 869 units.

RI Housing will issue the $185 million over two bonds. The first will be for $88 million, with prices expected to be reported later this month, and the remainder issued by the end of this year or the beginning of 2025.

After the bonds are issued, RI Housing will use the money to issue low-interest loans for 11 projects it has already approved loans for, in time for the deals to close.

Of the 869 units, at least 399 are being renovated, while 470 appear to be new units.

Of the $185 million to be issued in bonds, $11.8 million will be used for a debt service reserve , while $173.3 million will be issued as the low-interest loans.

These projects will receive loans

• Summer Street Apartments , Providence: $42 million to be loaned for the 176-unit project being constructed by Crossroads Rhode Island on Summer Street . The apartments will be permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless people. Once construction is complete, the people living in Crossroads' current home, "The Tower" at 160 Broad St., will be moved into the new apartments. The 176 single-occupancy rooms in the "Tower" will be transformed into 80 apartments.
• Park Holm Phase IV , Newport : $11.4 million to be loaned toward the fourth phase of the redevelopment of a 262-unit public housing project in Newport with added units. The loan will go toward the demolition of 74 units and the creation of 51 town-home units. The demolished units are planned to be replaced in the fifth phase.
• The Avenue , Providence: $16 million to be loaned for 85 units . The income-restricted project is being built by the nonprofit developer ONE Neighborhood Builders at the corner of Atwells Avenue and Knight Street , across from the towering Church of the Holy Ghost , in Federal Hill . The new apartment building will account for 39 units, while another 46 units units across 13 buildings in Elmwood will be renovated. The two projects were tied together to have a better chance at being awarded the scarce state funding dollars available.
• Potters Tigrai , Providence: $8.7 million to be loaned for 57 units . The income-restricted project by the non-profit developer S.W.A.P. (Stop Wasting Abandoned Property) involves the renovation of 37 units and the construction of 20 new units in 11 buildings across various vacant sites in South Providence . The 20 new units will be for people making 30-60% of the area median income , or AMI.
• Reynolds Farm Senior Housing II , North Kingstown: $8.75 million in loans for 40 income- and age-restricted units. In 2021, phase I, made up of 40 units, was completed. The income-restricted units are part of a larger three-phase market-rate planned community on 78 acres, encompassing 600 units. The income-restricted units were required as part of the town's approval of the project.
• Broad Street Homes , Central Falls: $11 million to be loaned for 44 units in two buildings across the street from each other by nonprofit developer ONE Neighborhood Builders . One is a new building at the site of a former Dunkin' and the other is the conversion of a former police station and courthouse.
• Ade Bethune House , Portsmouth: $13.6 million in loans toward a 54-unit apartment complex of income (80% area median income) and age-restricted (55+) units and a senior center at 110 Bristol Ferry Road.
• Lockwood Apartments Phase 1 , Providence: $12.3 million to be loaned for the renovation of 108 units . Phase 1 is for the 108 townhouses in 17 "garden-style townhouse buildings" at 50 Prairie Ave., in South Providence, while phase 2 will be the renovation of the 101 units in the adjacent high rise. The apartments are restricted to households making 60% of the area median income, and 80% are supported by Section 8 housing choice vouchers. WinnCompanies LLC is the developer.
• Hillside Village , Providence: $11 million to be loaned for the renovation of 42 units at the three-building apartment complex in the Silver Lake , near the Pocasset Manor complex. The developer is Preservation of Affordable Housing Inc., or POAH .
• Pocasset Manor, Providence: $15 million to be loaned for the renovation of 82 units in the 11-story senior housing complex in Silver Lake. The developer is Preservation of Affordable Housing Inc., or POAH .
• Hillcrest Village , Providence: $23.5 million to be loaned for the renovation of 130 units at the 6-story 130-unit housing complex built in 1979 in Mount Pleasant , at 40 Leander St. Renovations will include new kitchen cabinets and countertops, updated lighting, new doors, a new roof, wireless internet access and upgrades to the Americans with Disabilities Act units.

What is the income range for the units?

All of the units that will receive low-interest loans are for people and families making up to 80% of the area median income, or AMI, although many are restricted to people who make much less.

Here is what income limits look like for residents, based on household size. This represents the maximum yearly income a family could make to be eligible:

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Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter .

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI Housing will loan these housing projects $185M. Here's where it's going