Greater City Providence

Community Works Rhode Island Open House (02/25)

COMMUNITY WORKS RHODE ISLAND RENOVATES SIGNIFICANT BUILDINGS IN ITS ONGOING EFFORTS TO STABILIZE THE ELMWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD.

Community Works Rhode Island has completed the renovation of a significant historic residence on Parkis Avenue, for affordable and energy efficient rental units.

February 23, 2010, Providence, RI – Community Works Rhode Island (CWRI) will celebrate the completion of its newest housing at 14 Parkis Avenue, on Thursday, February 25, from 5:00pm-8:00pm. The public is welcome to attend this open house and enjoy the beautiful space, local ethnic food, and music by guitarist Noah Andrade, a ten year old musician of Cape Verdean descent. The open house will be sponsored by Stand Construction.

The building at 14 Parkis has been redeveloped with 10 studio and one bedroom units. A total of three historic homes on Parkis Avenue are currently being redeveloped for a total of 22 energy-efficient, income-restricted rental units. These buildings will all be complete in Spring 2010.

CWRI has owned 18 properties on Parkis Avenue. The organization is transforming a street of Victorian-era urban mansions into an award-winning new community with nearly 100 rental and homeownership units which serve a mix of incomes. The Parkis Avenue redevelopment has won two awards from the Providence Preservation Society for neighborhood revitalization, and also the prestigious national MetLife Award in 2008 for a community safety initiative.

Parkis Avenue is adjacent to the Broad and Elmwood business corridors, and several major bus routes. Neighborhood amenities, schools, social services and downtown Providence are within walking distance. All units have access to convenient laundry, outdoor space, and parking.

Carrie Marsh, Executive Director of CWRI, said “We are thrilled with the renovation of this significant building into bright, beautiful and energy-efficient living spaces, at an affordable level. It is a key piece of the transformation of Parkis Avenue as an anchor of the neighborhood. It allows us to continue to provide stable and well managed housing in a difficult economy.”

The project team for the Parkis Historic Properties is as follows:

  • Developer: Community Works Rhode Island
  • Architect: David Presbrey Architects
  • Contractor: Stand Corporation
  • Consultant: Barbara Sokoloff Associates
  • Attorneys: Chace Ruttenberg & Freedman
  • Financing: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, State of Rhode Island Housing Resources Commission, Rhode Island Housing, City of Providence, the Chestnut Fund, Citizens Bank, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) of Rhode Island, NeighborWorks America, and Community Housing Capital.
  • Leasing: First Realty Management

About CWRI: Community Works Rhode Island was formed by the merger of the Elmwood Foundation and Greater Elmwood Neighborhood Services (GENS) which served Providence’s Elmwood neighborhood for over 30 years, and undertook numerous community development initiatives, created hundreds of units of affordable housing and mixed use development, and invested more than $60 million in to the local community. CWRI is located at 693 Broad Street, Providence, RI 02907, 401-273-2330, communityworksri.org.

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1 comment

  • So great you posted this piece.

    I happened to be in the Elmwood/South Broad Street neighborhood yesterday where I get my hair cut. After leaving the locks to grow for the last two months I was pleasantly surprised to see how much development has been occurring or is currently underway in this section of the city.

    Not only is Rhode Island Housing and CWRI planning and completing new (re)development projects they are thankfully accomplishing this by using historical street level facading. No more mini-strip malls and motor convenient shopping centers!

    For too long and too often these outlying and poorer neighborhoods see the blight of bad construction and design. It makes me proud to say the renaissance is moving southward and that the South Side is alive and begging to shine again.

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