ProJo: Providence City Council OKs tax agreement for apartment project
By Madeleine List
Journal Staff Writer
Posted Oct 4, 2018 at 9:50 PM
Updated Oct 4, 2018 at 9:58 PM
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Providence City Council on Thursday approved a 20-year tax stabilization agreement for a mixed-use development at 131 Canal St.
The agreement will save the developer nearly $19 million in taxes, according to a fiscal impact statement.
The project, called Edge College Hill II, will include 163 studio and one-bedroom apartments geared toward students, according to Christopher Ise, principal planner with the City of Providence. The first floor will be dedicated to commercial use.
The 20,490-square-foot lot where the project will be built is currently a parking lot, Ise said. The 11-story apartment building will be located next to Edge College Hill I, a similar apartment tower at 169 Canal St.
Members of Direct Action for Rights & Equality (DARE), a Providence nonprofit advocating for low-income residents, sent a letter to the council before Thursday night's meeting urging council members to send the matter back to the Committee on Finance for further deliberation.
By approving the tax-stabilization agreement, the council was allowing the city to forgo millions of dollars in tax revenue and ignoring the city's dire need for more affordable housing, the letter reads.
“For over a decade we have demanded equity in our city's economic development policies,” the letter reads. “Yet Providence continues to promote public subsidy in private developments that both threaten to displace long-term neighborhood residents and take resources away from our communities without tangible and lasting community benefits.”
Ward 11 City Councilwoman Mary Kay Harris, as well as Katherine Kerwin, who is running unopposed to represent Ward 12, and Rachel Miller, who is running unopposed to represent Ward 13, also signed the letter.
Journal Staff Writer
Posted Oct 4, 2018 at 9:50 PM
Updated Oct 4, 2018 at 9:58 PM
The project, called Edge College Hill II, will include 163 studio and one-bedroom apartments geared toward students, according to Christopher Ise, principal planner with the City of Providence. The first floor will be dedicated to commercial use.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Providence City Council on Thursday approved a 20-year tax stabilization agreement for a mixed-use development at 131 Canal St.
The agreement will save the developer nearly $19 million in taxes, according to a fiscal impact statement.
The project, called Edge College Hill II, will include 163 studio and one-bedroom apartments geared toward students, according to Christopher Ise, principal planner with the City of Providence. The first floor will be dedicated to commercial use.
The 20,490-square-foot lot where the project will be built is currently a parking lot, Ise said. The 11-story apartment building will be located next to Edge College Hill I, a similar apartment tower at 169 Canal St.
Members of Direct Action for Rights & Equality (DARE), a Providence nonprofit advocating for low-income residents, sent a letter to the council before Thursday night's meeting urging council members to send the matter back to the Committee on Finance for further deliberation.
By approving the tax-stabilization agreement, the council was allowing the city to forgo millions of dollars in tax revenue and ignoring the city's dire need for more affordable housing, the letter reads.
“For over a decade we have demanded equity in our city's economic development policies,” the letter reads. “Yet Providence continues to promote public subsidy in private developments that both threaten to displace long-term neighborhood residents and take resources away from our communities without tangible and lasting community benefits.”
Ward 11 City Councilwoman Mary Kay Harris, as well as Katherine Kerwin, who is running unopposed to represent Ward 12, and Rachel Miller, who is running unopposed to represent Ward 13, also signed the letter.
Courtesy of Providence Journal
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