Category: economy

On Oct. 10, the Summer Street Apartments, a new five-story 176-unit permanent supportive housing development for formerly homeless Rhode Island residents, opened at 94 Summer St. in Providence. The 176-unit apartment complex is operated by Crossroads Rhode Island, a nonprofit organization that coordinates housing and homelessness services to individuals within the state. Each unit is a fully furnished, one-bedroom apartment that includes a kitchen and private bathroom. Residents began moving in on Monday.”The Summer Street Apartments will literally be life changing for the nearly 200 men and women who will soon call them home, providing safety, stability and community to people who have struggled with housing insecurity for years,” said Michelle Wilcox, president and CEO of Crossroads R. I. in a news release. The first wave of residents moving into the Summer Street Apartments are those who previously lived at Crossroads’ Travelers Aid Housing at 160 Broad Street. The 176-unit complex was originally constructed in 1915 as a YMCA, and the existing small rooms, shared bathrooms and dated facilities are “in dire need of repair,” according to the organization. Crossroads will begin renovating the Broad Street apartments once residents have transitioned to the Summer Street complex. A new framework for tenant eligibility and selection will be developed for future Summer Street residents. The new project comes at a critical time in Rhode Island’s housing crisis.”In the last five years, the price of a home has risen more than 50%, and we simply do not have enough homes to meet the market’s demand,” House Speaker Joseph Shekarchi (D-Warwick) said in the Crossroads news release. The state has set a goal to permit 375 new permanent supportive housing units by 2030, making the addition of 176 units a substantial step toward achieving those benchmarks, wrote Emily Marshall, a spokesperson for the Rhode Island Executive Office of Housing. Between 2018 and 2023, the state saw an increase of 85 PSH units, she added.”Models like Summer Street are critical to creating housing that meets both immediate and long-term needs,” Marshall wrote. In addition to these amenities, residents will also have access to education and employment services, health and recovery resources and case management, according to the press release. It adds that over 90% of those who receive both affordable housing and supportive services never become homeless again.”By combining housing with supportive services, the project gives Rhode Islanders in need the resources they need to thrive,” Marshall wrote. Construction began on the complex in 2023. Summer Street was an “ideal” location for this project because of its “high density zoning, easy access to public transportation and jobs and proximity to Crossroads’ headquarters,” according to the website. In 2024, the Summer Street development was expected to cost $85 million, according to WPRI, The project has been heavily supported by local, state and federal funding, including $2 million in congressional funds secured by U. S. Senators Jack Reed (D-R. I.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R. I.). Additionally, Mayor Brett Smiley’s administration supported the complex “with $3. 5 million in funding through the Providence Housing Trust Fund and (U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) grants,” Michaela Antunes, a spokesperson for the City of Providence, wrote to The Herald. Support also came from the state level, with Gov. Dan McKee’s administration secured a state investment of about $18 million for the project, according to Marshall.”We are continuing to invest significant resources in projects like Summer Street to ensure that new, high-quality units with supportive services are quickly made available to our neighbors who need them most,” Antunes wrote.