Zoning Board approves variances request by non-profit developer One Neighborhood Builders
EAST PROVIDENCE — The reclamation of the former VAMCO site Bullocks Point Avenue in Riverside as a location for affordable housing took another step forward last week when the Zoning Board, at its February 2 meeting, granted a number of variances for the project to the prospective developers, the non-profit One Neighborhood Builders.
Related on ONE|NB website:
- Residences at Riverside Square
- ONE|NB Awarded $5.1 Million For Affordable Housing In Providence And East Providence
After discussing concerns mostly pertaining to the amount of parking being included in the plans, the board on a unanimous 5-0 vote granted the following variances to: “the minimum front-yard setback, obstruction setback at an intersection, increased setbacks resulting from introduction of a third-floor, minimum lot density, trash storage setback, off-street parking within the front-yard setback, provision of off-street parking, exceeding maximum number of stories, wall setback separation between buildings, quantity of minimum yard space allotted each townhouse unit, minimum provision of shade trees, provision of landscaping throughout the perimeter of the property, and buffering of parking areas and other site amenities.”
The city late in 2021 accepted the Request for Proposal submission by One Neighborhood Builders, which also last year purchased and is now in the process of refurbishing the Sutton Place complex on Sutton Avenue in city. Construction is expected to start this June and be completed around the same time in 2023.
According to the developers, “The Residences at Riverside Square” will create a total of 16 affordable rental apartments for extremely low-to moderate-income households. Three of the units will be reserved for youth aging out of foster care in partnership with Foster Forward, an East Providence-based nonprofit. Also, the redevelopment “will revitalize a long-vacant and blighted property adjacent to the East Bay Bike Path.”
The complex will include six one and two bedroom flats on either end over three floors with four two-story townhouses in between. One of the apartments will be Americans with Disabilities Act compliant while another will be an audio/visual accessible unit. At the edges, the highest point of the structure will be 32-feet tall.
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