Under construction, the front of the Residences at Riverside Square on Bullocks Point Avenue in East Providence.
Kris Craig/The Providence Journal
By Antonia Noori Farzan
The Providence Journal
EAST PROVIDENCE – The global shortage of computer microchips – which former Gov. Gina Raimondo is trying to address in her role as U.S. commerce secretary – is stalling construction of an affordable-housing complex in Riverside.
And it’s likely that other multifamily housing developments are running into the same problem, said Jennifer Hawkins, president and CEO of One Neighborhood Builders.
“The nation’s got a chip shortage,” she said, “and we’re feeling it here in Little Rhody.”
One Neighborhood Builders is building 16 apartments, three of which will be reserved for youth aging out of foster care, on a long-vacant piece of land on Bullocks Point Avenue that once held the Vamco jewelry factory.
But they’re missing one key component: the switchgear.
Switchgear brings power from the electric grid into individual units, Hawkins said. Contractors ordered the equipment a year ago, which seemed early – but as it turned out, there was a 54-week wait. (In the past, there had been a lead time of only 90 days.)
That means the apartments in the new development, called the Residences at Riverside Square, probably won’t be available to rent until the end of May – two months later than planned.
“Two months is not a great number in the grand scheme of things,” Hawkins said, noting that the project had been years in the making. “But two months for an individual who is living in a shelter or other really bad circumstances is a lifetime.”
Steve Kearns, real estate project manager, and Kyle McKendall, vice president of resource development and communications for One Neighborhood Builders.
Kris Craig/The Providence Journal
