For critics, the plan to redevelop the former Providence and National Worsted
Mills in Olneyville is about as natural a form of neighborhood growth as a
sudden landing by a massive alien spaceship. But for proponents of the
envisioned Rising Sun Mills, which is poised to offer 151 loft-style
apartments, 100,000-square-feet of office space, and an ecological
small-business incubator, the $45 million project represents a much-needed
source of investment and stability in one of the most economically
disadvantaged areas in Rhode Island.
Those critical of the development, mostly young artists and activists, cherish
Olneyville's downscale polyglot funk and fear that an influx of upwardly mobile
types will raise housing costs and spark gentrification. The developers, led
locally by the Armory Revival Company, cite additional housing as an antidote
for rising rents and they describe the initiative as a welcome alternative to
the continued deterioration of the neighborhood's 19th-century mill
buildings.
Rising Sun is further evidence of how Providence's once-forgotten industrial
neighborhoods, which have provided fertile ground for vibrant underground art
scenes like Fort Thunder, are facing increased interest from developers. The
tide of change emanates from the ongoing construction of a shopping plaza in
Eagle Square -- where Feldco Development was convinced to preserve a few of the
dozen or so former classic mill structures only after a spirited response from
the community. Rising Sun, located at 166 Valley St., continues the spread of
development along the time-tested path of the Woonasquatucket River and toward
Olneyville Square, a focal point of the local underground art and music
scene.
Struever Brothers, Eccles & Rouse of Baltimore, the lead developer of
Rising Sun, has a well-deserved reputation for helping to reinvigorate
economically blighted neighborhoods, and Bill Struever's firm became in
involved in the project after emerging as a possible alternative developer for
Eagle Square (see "Crunch time," News, August 2, 2001). Given all this, it's
slightly ironic that Struever Brothers and the three partners of Armory
Revival, who helped to resuscitate the Armory District before branching into
more upscale developments, are drawing criticism from a small band of
idealistic critics.
Sign of change: FeldcoÕs development marked the start of pressure in once-forgotten
industrial neighborhoods
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Even some of those who cite the multi-million dollar investment as an
undeniable positive for Olneyville -- where 41 percent of families live in
poverty, according to the 2000 Census, compared to a citywide average of 24
percent -- describe Rising Sun as a potentially mixed blessing that could
impact the largely Latino neighborhood in unexpected ways. Rents at Rising Sun
will run from $600-$1400 -- with most between $700-$1100 -- a far cry from the
luxury housing sprouting in pockets around town, but not exactly housing on the
cheap, either. The development comes as Olneyville is showing some promising
signs of improvement, including development of the Riverside Mills Park and the
Woonasquatucket River Greenway.
Richard H. Godfrey Jr., executive director of the Rhode Island Housing and
Mortgage Finance Corporation, a self-supporting agency that connects Rhode
Islanders with affordable housing, says Olneyville has a long way to go before
gentrification will become a serious issue, and he believes that Rising Sun
Mills will help to stabilize the neighborhood. "They [new residents] will
demand police protection and, unfortunately, higher-income people are listened
to more than lower-income people in demanding city services," Godfrey says.
Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline is an enthusiastic backer of the
development, describing it as a long-term benefit for the neighborhood, a view
shared by Mike Solomon, owner of Wes' Rib House and president of the Olneyville
Merchants' Association.
Regardless of the merits, it's still no wonder that artists like Brian
Chippendale, the drummer in Lightning Bolt, who relocated to a mill building in
Olneyville Square after being displaced by Feldco's project, feel under the
gun. "It seems like someone dropped a rock on Eagle Square and it's coming down
toward us," Chippendale says. "It used to be in Providence, you could live
really cheaply and make art. What this is going to do is to weed out a lot of
artists who are just starting out."
Frontline: Critics fear that development will replace organic growth in Olneyville with
gentrification
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The steadily increasing difficulty of finding decent, affordable, and suitable
space in Providence has led some artists (and arts organizations) to set their
sights for Pawtucket, Fall River, Massachusetts, and other destinations. The
situation is so serious that AS220, the nonprofit arts organization, is
exploring the possibility of buying another downtown building. "It is getting
very expensive to live in the city," says artistic director Bert Crenca, who
sees Rising Sun as having a mixed impact. "I'm hearing that on a daily basis --
`What's going to happen? We're all going to get priced out.' "
The concerns expressed about affordability are symptoms of a housing crisis
that extends far beyond mill buildings and the particular needs of artists.
"Housing costs in Rhode Island are just out of reach of the common family,"
says Godfrey. "Rising Sun is not going to drive up the rents. Rising Sun is a
symbol of what is happening. The upward pressure [on rents], the increased
demand [for housing], allows Rising Sun to happen."
The cost of housing, in fact, has become so high in two-thirds of the nation's
metropolitan areas, according to the Center for Housing Policy in Washington,
DC, "that people who provide the bulk of services in these communities --
teachers, policemen, firemen, laundry, and restaurant workers -- cannot
themselves afford to live there." And while homeownership is seen as a
cornerstone of the American dream and a critical part of building wealth,
blacks, Latinos, and city residents own homes in far lesser percentages than
white suburbanites, according to the Fannie Mae Foundation.
Although the housing crunch is a national problem, it is particularly serious
in Rhode Island, a tiny state with a growing number of residents, enhanced
stature as a place to live -- particularly for commuters priced out of the more
exorbitant Boston area, who can now hop on the high-speed Acela -- and a meager
amount of land for development. These are some of the factors that help to
explain why the average statewide rent for a two-bedroom apartment jumped to
$854, from $613, over the last four years, and Rhode Island had the greatest
increase in home prices over the last year (and the third highest nationally
over the last two decades).
Meanwhile, little new housing is being built because of anti-development
policies, the high price of construction (it costs as much to build a home in
Olneyville as in East Greenwich), and the sharp preference of cities and towns
for commercial growth that contributes to the tax base while placing less
demand on municipal resources.
Investment: Proponents like Dupre and Van Noppen cite Rising Sun as a much-needed
source of fresh vitality and economic growth
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It certainly doesn't help that the federal government has retreated from
funding the development of affordable housing. Although the Federal Housing Act
of 1949 and federally backed mortgage programs made homeowners out of millions
of people who would have otherwise remained among the rent-poor, according to
the New York Times, the Reagan administration gutted housing programs.
"As a result, the housing shortage facing the country today is nearly as severe
as the one that spurred Congress to act just after World War II," the
Times editorialized last year. The Bush administration has evidenced
little interest in changing the situation.
At the lower end of the market, overcrowding has grown by 34 percent over the
last decade, Godfrey says. Homelessness is up, particularly among families (see
"Mean streets," News, January 17), and the situation is expected to get worse
since the typical price for a triple-decker has more than doubled over the last
two years -- to more than $200,000 -- and the increased costs will be passed
down to tenants. Unless Rhode Island's economy goes to pieces, Godfrey says,
the logical conclusion is that "housing here is going to get progressively less
affordable."
ACOMPLEX of 330 luxury apartments -- where the typical rent will hover close to
$2000 -- is taking shape on a five-acre triangular parcel of land bounded by
the rear of the Providence Place Mall and Kinsley and Harris avenues. For now,
the partially built structure is a mass of plywood and construction wrapping
enclosed by Jersey barriers. By the time it is complete next winter, the
Jefferson at Providence Place will include a fitness facility, pool and hot tub
in the courtyard, and a media room with large projection television and
theatre-style seating. Although some wags question who would want to live in
such a contrived setting, JPI of Irving, Texas, one of the nation's largest
builders, certainly wouldn't be building the Jefferson if it wasn't confident
about earning a lucrative return.
"We all love Providence," says Heather Culp, a senior development associate
for JPI, who predicts that the complex will attract a mix of empty-nesters and
affluent young adults. "We are definitely impressed by the developments it has
made. It was just a great opportunity to be close to downtown."
Although a monthly rent of $2000 seems better suited to midtown Manhattan than
the former site of the Silver Top Diner, an underserved market for high-end
housing has triggered plans for a handful of other luxury developments in
recent months, including 83 condos in Fox Point, envisioned apartments in the
Capital Center, and condos across Fountain Street from the Providence Journal
Building. Across town, Rising Sun marks the most ambitious project for the
Armory Revival Company, whose recent efforts include upscale condos on Thomas
Street (one of which sold for $1.2 million) and on Westminster Street, near the
Providence School Department. Providence, a city long known for its unstudied
idiosyncrasy and relatively cheap digs, is increasingly going pricey.
Some observers, including the anarchist newspaper the Nor'easter,
attribute the upscale boomlet to exploitation and bald-faced speculation based
on the cold calculus of indicators like the "bohemian index" and "risk
oblivious renters." Yet even some of those who question the appeal of the JPI
development don't see an increase in upwardly mobile residents as a necessarily
bad thing for Providence. "I think in the long run, it should prove to be a
positive," says architect Steve Durkee, since such residents can help to
support restaurants, cultural activity, and other desirable elements of city
life. At the same time, Durkee, who worked last year with the Olneyville
Housing Corporation to develop 32 units of affordable rental housing -- which
attracted more than 600 applications -- knows how the lower end of the market
suffers from a woefully inadequate amount of attention.
Ownership is the key to maintaining affordability for artists and non-artists
alike, and Providence offers several noteworthy models. One of the best is
AS220, which has offered affordable housing for 11 residents -- and contributed
to the city's heightened profile -- since the arts organization acquired its
Empire Street building in the early '90s. The Dirt Palace in Olneyville Square
used a low-interest city loan to help create a similar combination of
residential and performance space for artists. And in January, Cicilline and
other officials hailed plans by the West Elmwood Housing Development
Corporation to convert the abandoned Rau Fastener complex on Westfield Street
into a blend of affordable housing and lofts for artists.
Such exemplary efforts, however, represent just a tiny slice of overall
housing.
While Rhode Island Housing aids the development of about 300 units of
affordable housing a year, Godfrey, the agency's executive director, says, "We
could probably use about 2000 affordable units a year." And although AS220 has
become a Providence institution, the organization benefited greatly from the
dire shape of downtown in the early '90s, and even with a large loan and strong
support from bankers, former mayor Vincent A. "Buddy" Cianci Jr., and other
backers, it still took two years in predevelopment to bring the deal together.
"People were desperate to see something positive," Crenca recalls. "Because
there wasn't a lot going on downtown, the city had a very strong interest in
seeing this happen."
The disparity between housing needs and housing supply illuminates a
fundamental reality: laissez-faire economics offers a great deal of incentive
-- namely a far greater amount of profit -- to create high-end housing, and
virtually none at all to build affordable housing. "The reason that groups like
us exist is because the market wouldn't do it," says Frank Shea, executive
director of the nonprofit Olneyville Housing Corporation, which, like other
community development corporations, takes the lead in developing affordable
housing.
One bright spot, according to housing specialists like Godfrey, is represented
by Cicilline and Governor Donald Carcieri, who are seen as more supportive on
housing issues than their predecessors. Carcieri recently vowed to include $5
million in the 2003-2004 budget for the creation of 100 units of low- and
moderate-income housing -- a stark contrast to Lincoln Almond who supported a
similar effort only after protests by clergy. Although short on specifics,
Cicilline pledges a comprehensive approach on housing, including considering
linkage -- requiring developers to require affordable units as part of a
development -- and looking at ownership opportunities for artists.
Still, the enormity of the challenge can be seen in how the collective
exemption of US homeowners for mortgage interest and property tax deductions is
five times the entire budget of the US Department of Housing and Urban
Development. Viewed another way, even though Rhode Island Housing has helped to
steer about $6 million in affordable housing into Olneyville over the last few
years -- developing about 50 units -- the level of new construction pales,
Godfrey says, in comparison to the amount of housing that has been demolished
in the neighborhood during the same period.
MORE THAN 600 people, artists and well-heeled suburbanites alike, gathered into
one of the large lofts at Rising Sun Mills for the winter bash of the
Providence Preservation Society on Saturday, January 25. Although some cited
the party -- a largely white celebration in a predominantly minority
neighborhood -- as emblematic of what's wrong with Rising Sun, it was also a
resounding success in focusing attention away from the preservation society's
East Side base. "Preservation doesn't have to be a dirty word for people of
modest means," says conservationist Jennifer Cole Steele, who served on the
event committee for the bash. If it takes a couple of "squeaky clean" events to
raise the citywide profile of preservation, she says, so be it.
The competing views toward the PPS bash seem typical of the current dissonance
between Armory Revival and its critics -- as well as the larger challenge of
revitalizing a poor neighborhood without gentrifying it.
Rising Sun's most vociferous critics, who were informed about the proposal
just a few days before it was presented to the city Plan Commission, remain
stung by what they see as a lack of public participation in the process and the
absence of dialogue with the developers. "Overall, it seems like the project
was created in a vacuum and there was no intention to integrate it into the
fabric of the community," says Adriana Young, executive director of English for
Action, a nonprofit that works with immigrants in Olneyville. There's
suspicion, too, about Armory Reviva's acquisition of nearby property and a fear
that it will be more difficult for young artists to buy lofts in the area as a
result.
Mark Van Noppen and B.J. Dupre, who, with Barry Preston, constitute Armory
Revival, say they didn't anticipate criticism from members of the local arts
underground and focused their earliest informational efforts on the dozen or so
businesses and artists being displaced from the mill complex. Noting that the
wide swath of land from Olneyville Square to Atwells Avenue, between the
Woonasquatucket and Route 10, produces less than $800,000 in annual tax
revenue, Van Noppen says, "It's like a giant whole in your wallet. We want our
investment to be something that's going to add to the long-term value of the
community." Dupre adds, "It's really about building community," citing an unmet
demand for loft apartments in the city, as well as plans for Rising Sun to
include office space and the ecological small business incubator being
organized by Sara Struever, daughter of Bill Struever, whose goals include
gallery space, a media center, nonprofits, and community development
organizations.
Van Noppen says it's too late to enter into in a dialogue with critics about
plans for Rising Sun (the city Plan Commission seems likely in coming weeks to
approve the primary plan for the development, the second-step of a two-part
approval process), but the developers say they're committed to creating
affordable housing elsewhere in Olneyville and, if environmental problems don't
prove too onerous, redeveloping an adjacent mill complex on Valley Street as
lower-priced unfinished lofts for artists.
If Armory Revival has been good for the Armory District, there's little doubt
that Providence has been good for Armory Revival, which has grown to enjoy $8
million in annual revenue. Some people look askance at the way the company was
able to sell a loft in its building at 755 Westminster St. -- hardly a
high-rent district -- for more than $400,000. But the developers have also
proven effective in achieving something -- introducing a greater degree of
economy diversity in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods -- that is widely
seen as an important part of good development. In the same way, a new Armory
Revival development on Pearl Street is due to include 18 lofts for sale and 36
apartments, with 20 percent of the housing at affordable prices, thanks to a
program backed by the Providence Preservation Society's Revolving Loan Fund.
Godfrey, the director of Rhode Island Housing, preaches the gospel of
mixed-income, higher-density housing when he talks with legislators, labor,
clergy groups and others, emphasizing how housing growth is closely linked to
economic growth. Indeed, the US Commerce Department emphasizes that every
government dollar dedicated to housing leverages nine other dollars. New
England's old mill owners clearly understood the link between housing and labor
supply, Godfrey says, since they built worker housing in proximity to the
places where the workers toiled.
But the idea of building higher-density housing -- mixing in townhouses near
single-family homes in suburbs, for example, goes sharply against the grain in
a culture where post-World War II zoning ordinances make it difficult to build
neighborhoods with the sense of community that many people crave. As a result,
Rhode Island hasn't been adding sufficient housing to accommodate the roughly
10,000 new jobs added in the state for each of the last two years. Says
Godfrey, "We need everyone to realize that we're in this together."
Rhode Island, with its many old villages, is potentially well-suited for the
kind of housing growth envisioned by Godfrey. In a white paper, the National
Trust for Historic Preservation last year cited preservation in older and
historic neighborhoods as "the missed connection" in affordable housing, noting
that it's far cheaper to repair existing housing than to build new homes. As it
stands, though, 6.3 million housing units were lost over the last three decades
from the national inventory of older and historic homes. "Certainly, not every
one of those houses could or should have been saved," the Trust noted. "But
even if half were retained instead of razed, the picture today would be much
different for the millions of Americans inadequately or unaffordably housed."
Offering subsidies for artists is sometimes a controversial subject, but
considering the benefits that Providence and Rhode Island have gained from
marketing themselves as bastions of the arts, ensuring the presence of artists
is a smart forum of economic development. And although even established arts
organizations face difficulty during lean economic times, it's worth noting
that it's the underground arts groups that have attracted some of the most
enthusiastic out-of-town notices during recent times. The work of the art-music
collective Forcefield, for example, previously included in the Whitney
Biennial, was featured on the front of the Sunday arts and leisure section of
the New York Times a few weeks ago. Similarly, Lightning Bolt received
an enthusiastic review in the Times last year, and the alt-rock heroes
of Sonic Youth performed a symbolic passing of the torch to the group during a
recent gig at Lupo's.
Godfrey still tends to get quizzical looks when he speaks about the importance
of coming to terms with Rhode Island's housing crisis. Although he has no
illusions about the difficulty of changing the situation, he hopes that
publicity about growing homelessness -- and another kind of realization for
suburban families that own their own homes -- will spark change. "The irony is
that those of us who own our homes get richer every day," he says. "To a
certain extent, we like the way it is. Yet," when it comes to buying a home,
"our kids can't afford to get in."
Ian Donnis can be reached at idonnis[a]phx.com.
Issue Date: February 7 -13, 2003
