By Robert McMahon, Published July 1, 2024
Rhode Island is in the midst of a brutal housing crisis—the worst since post-World War II.
The median asking price of a single-family home in May was $525,000.
About 150,000 households in RI—about one-third of all households in the state—are cost-burdened (spending more than 30% of their income on housing). The median rent in Providence in 2023 was $2002/month. The rate of production of new housing units in RI is one of the lowest in the nation. Permits for housing units in RI in 2023 were about one-fifth of what they were in 1986.
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Case Study: Modular Multi-Family Construction in Olneyville
In 2018 a fatal fire destroyed several blighted multifamily homes on Bowdoin Street in Olneyville displacing 22 individuals. The land sat vacant until ONE Neighborhood Builders (ONE NB), a nonprofit community development organization of Olneyville, acquired the property and began to plan for new affordable housing. Row housing was designed by Truth Box architects to maximize the number of units that could be built on the site.
Construction began in late 2021 on a multifamily complex that would include six two-bedroom apartments and two one-bedroom apartments. Start to finish occurred in just a few months as ONE NB and its innovative Executive Director, Jennifer Hawkins, employed a new concept for RI affordable housing, modular housing fabrication. The units were built by Champion Modular Homes of Pennsylvania in a factory over a two-month period starting in December 2021, shipped to Bowdoin Street in February 2022 over a 10-day period, installed by Coastal Modular Homes of RI, and were ready for occupancy three months later.
The construction costs for the project were almost 20% lower than conventional stick-built construction at the time. The construction cost savings would have been another 2-3% if the units didn’t have to be shipped by truck almost 400 miles from Liverpool, PA, to Rhode Island.
Modular Constructed Affordable Multifamily Housing Should be Built in Rhode Island
Why modular construction for Rhode Island multifamily affordable units:
– Cost: Construction costs can be 20-25% less costly than conventional stick-built units;
– Speed: Construction time can be shortened by 40-50%;
– Year-round construction: With most of the units and utilities installed in a factory, winter weather in Rhode Island will not hinder construction schedules.
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