The Providence City Council still needs to approve rezoning the three lots
Wheeler CowperthwaiteProvidence Journal
PROVIDENCE − A developer has received the first green light required to add 59 apartments spread across three buildings in the Federal Hill neighborhood.
Kevin Diamond, principal with Providence Architecture and Building Co., presented requests that the lots at 20 America St., 64 America St. and 125 Tobey St. be rezoned from R-3 to R-4 to allow more floors and more units.
The City Plan Commission on Tuesday sent the rezoning requests to the City Council, the body with the power to change zoning, with its recommendation to approve with one condition: that short-term rentals not be allowed.
The City Plan Commission recommendation marks the first step toward developing the three lots into dense infill housing. If the City Council approves the zoning changes, the three projects would then go to the city's Planning Department for review and approval, and not come before the appointed City Plan Commission for approval and a public hearing. That's because the projects would be considered "minor land use developments" and, under changes to state law, would be reviewed internally by the Planning Department, Deputy Planning Director Bob Azar said in an interview.
Before the state law change, "minor land development" projects would be reviewed by the City Plan Commission, a process that included public comment.
Why is the rezone needed?
The R-3 zone allows a maximum density of three units per building, while the R-4 zone has no hard cap on the number of units in a strictly residential building.
The R-4 zone also allows buildings to go up to 4 stories (R-3 has a three-story maximum), although the top building height is the same in both zones, 45 feet. The buildings would range from 14 units to 26 units.
The R-4 zone also allows for two buildings to occupy the same lot. The oversize lot on Tobey Street, under its current R-3 zoning, does not allow anything else to be built.
While all three projects are being proposed and would be owned by different companies, they are all being developed by Providence Architecture and Building Co., run by Diamond and developer Dustin Dezube.
"This is a missing-middle style of development that isn't new, but for a long period of time we stopped seeing it," Dezube said.
That missing middle is the space between small multi-family buildings and giant, institutional apartment buildings, a scale that is "approachable" but with much higher density than is allowed in much of the city.
"Building these buildings chips away at the scarcity of units a lot quicker than building a three-family," Dezube said.
In all, their firm has 750 units of housing in the pipeline, he said.
20 America St. would go from a parking lot to an apartment building
In a 17-space parking lot on America Street, just a few lots down from Atwells Avenue, Diamond is proposing a modern-looking 4-story apartment building with big windows on the first three floors and a recessed fourth floor reminiscent of a mansard roof. The building would have 19 units.
The building would have a cellar and the design is "more urban" because of the surrounding neighborhood, mainly Atwells Avenue, Diamond said during the meeting.
The main staircase in the building would be inside the building; a second staircase in the rear would be covered but unenclosed. Currently, the two lots on either side are parking lots.
The building footprint would be 2,864 square feet. There would be no parking.
The current proposed unit mix would be:
- 3 studios (300 square feet average)
- 20 one-bedroom apartments (476 square feet average)
- 1 two-bedroom apartment (842 square feet)
Diamond said in an interview he is hopeful that if and when the apartments are built, it helps to "activate" the area.
"I'm hoping this will be a catalyst," he said. "We're trying to do it with style."
64 America St. would go from a vacant lot to 26 units
At 64 America St,, a vacant lot fronted by tall trees blocking the view from the street, Diamond is proposing to build a 26-unit 4-story apartment building. Another apartment building is already on the lot, but changing it to the R-4 zone would allow two buildings to occupy the space.
Renderings show bay windows on either side of the building. Diamond said the design is "in real dialogue" with the other architecture styles in the neighborhood: classic three-deckers, the Queen Anne style and the Second Empire style.
The Israel B. Mason House at 571 Broad St. is a residential example of the Queen Anne style, while Providence City Hall is a large, municipal example of the Second Empire style.
The fourth floor would have a mansard roof, which makes the building seem "approachable." Like the building proposed at 20 America St., it would have a covered but not enclosed rear stairway.
"We want to put our best foot forward, for them to feel at home in the area, but be honest [that] they are built in the 21st century," Diamond said.
- 16 studio apartments (241 square feet on average)
- 8 one-bedroom apartments (516 square feet on average)
- 2 two-bedroom apartments (748 square feet on average)
The building's footprint would be 2,854 square feet. It would share an eight-spot parking lot in the rear with the existing house. Two of the spaces would be double-parked.
125 Tobey St. would go from grassy lot to 3-story apartment building
At 125 Tobey St., Diamond proposed the smallest of the three buildings, a low-slung three-story apartment building with 14 units. It should share a lot with a modern three-story duplex.
The building would have cellar apartments and a recessed third floor with access to a balcony. The building footprint would be 2,695 square feet.
The unit mix would be:
- 3 studio apartments (384 square feet average)
- 4 one-bedroom apartments (549 square feet average)
- 2 two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartments (699 square feet average)
- 4 two-bedroom two-bathroom apartments (851 square feet average)
- 1 three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment (1,149 square feet)
Diamond said the building was kept low to "complement" the neighborhood, and the third floor was "stepped back."
"We needed to elevate the unit count but did not want it to be tall or look massive – to have small-scale urban infill," Diamond said.
The complex would share six parking spaces in the rear with a duplex next door.
"I don't think you could interchange any of the three buildings with the neighborhoods they're in," Diamond said.
No parking required
None of the proposed projects would require parking to be provided because they are less than 10,000 square feet. Two of the three proposals would have parking, which would be shared with buildings on the existing lots.
For all of the projects, Diamond designed the apartments in concert with the building façade, looking for ways that things like a recessed space, a nook, a cranny, could be used by the person living there, what the right size is for a kitchen, the small details that go into a living space.
What is the project timeline?
The next step for the project is for the new zoning to be approved by the City Council.
If and when the zone changes are approved, plans would take another six to eight months, followed by another six to eight weeks for building permits and another nine to 10 months to build them.
"It's probably two years to delivery from whenever we get the zone change," Dezube said.
Short-term rentals use?
One concern among the commissioners was that the buildings could be used as short-term rentals, something that Diamond said was not in the plan.
Chairman Michael Gazdacko said he wanted the City Plan Commission's recommendation to be that the City Council add a condition to the R-4 zone for the three lots that short-term rentals be banned.
Under the city's current zoning rules, short-term rentals are limited to owner-occupied units in all the residentials zones except R-4, which allows the highest level of density outside of the commercial zones.
Thanks to our subscribers, who help make this coverage possible.If you are not a subscriber, please consider supporting quality local journalism with aProvidence Journal subscription.Here's our latest offer.
Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite atwcowperthwaite@providencejournal.comor follow him on Twitter@WheelerReporter.
