Pasocoag gets affordable housing
BURRILLVILLE – Calling for 96 homes in all, the $29 million Greenridge Commons project in Pascoag will push the town past its goal of making 10 percent of all the local housing stock affordable, but the demand still far exceeds the supply, housing advocates say.
“For this project alone we have a waiting list of over 400 people for 96 units,” said Joseph Garlick, executive director of Woonsocket-based Neighbor Works Blackstone River Valley, the non-profit developer of the project. “There is a great need for affordable housing throughout Rhode Island.”
Garlick’s comments came as Neighbor Works, accompanied by housing advocates, lenders and town officials, welcomed the first 26 families to Greenridge Commons Friday. Located on a tract of land at the junction of Lapham Farm Road and Route 100, the site calls for 31 two- and three-bed, townhouse-style units in all, 11 of which have been completed so far. Contractors will work through the winter and are expected to complete the remaining 20 residential structures by next summer, according
to Meghan Rego, a spokeswoman for Neighbor Works.
Twenty-one of the residences will be built in two mixed-use structures now under construction on Main Street in Pascoag. Those buildings will also contain about 8,000 square feet of commercial space that will be leased for small businesses, retail shops and offices.
“Projects like this are breaking down the negative perception of affordable housing,” said Mike Tondra of the Rhode Island Office of Housing and Community Development. “We’re building neighborhoods.”
The concept for Greenridge Commons has been on the books since Neighbor Works acquired some 200 acres of raw land in Pascoag 15 years ago. Some of the land was previously committed to another Neighbor Works development known as Fernwood, which calls for 30 single-family homes, seven of which have been completed.
Fernwood is an owner- occupied affordable housing development, but the subsidy is provided partly by the federal government under a program rarely used in the Northeast. Known as selfhelp housing, the U.S. Department of Agriculture offers credits to the owners for doing some of their own construction work.
Collectively, Greenridge Commons and Fernwood used about 25 of the original 200 acres acquired by Neighbor Works in 2002, according to Rego. The remainder, a swath of land bisecting the two tracts of housing, is to be preserved for passive recreation and open space.
To qualify for a unit in Greenridge Commons, tenant families’ household earnings must meet certain guidelines that the Department of Housing and Urban Development defines as lowto moderate-income. For a family of four, for example, that’s 50 to 60 percent of the area median income, or $36,000 to 43,000 a year. The caps are somewhat lower for the units to be developed in Pascoag village, which calls for smaller, one-bedroom and studio apartments.
Rene Seddon, a mother four who had been living in North Providence, was among those on hand to celebrate the opening of the first units at Greenridge Commons – including hers. Seddon said inspectors found lead paint in her old house that was a health risk to her children.
A native of Glocester, Seddon said Greenridge Commons was perfect for her because she wanted to relocate to a rural area more like the neighboring town where she grew up.
“The kids are settling in and we love our new home here in Pascoag,” she said.
Neighbor Works found an unexpectedly generous amount of ledge at the construction site that drove up development costs, but Garlick turned a few spare bits of the stuff to hand out as souvenir paperweights to the new residents. But first he painted them gold and used them as symbols to drive home the point about the worth of affordable housing.
“It’s rare, hard to get, and once it’s developed, it’s priceless,” he said.
The investment in Greenridge Commons, representing about $28.5 million in all, was cobbled together from a smorgasbord of sources – public and private, including all levels of government and traditional lenders. Funding partners included Bank of America; Rhode Island Housing; Citizens Bank; Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston; Rhode Island Office of Housing and Community Development; Rhode Island Housing Resources Commission; Local Initiatives Support Corporation of Rhode Island; Neighbor Works America; and TD Bank.
Barbara Fields, director of Rhode Island Housing, also praised John O’ Hearne Architects of Woonsocket, Nationwide Construction of North Smithfield, Scituate Surveys, SJF Engineering, Malone Projects and local town officials for their largely hands-on work in making the project a success.
“This is what makes a difference,” said Fields. “I want to thank the team for their perseverance. It truly takes a village to make this happen.”
Follow Russ Olivo on Twitter @russolivo