money Plans for Cranston apartment complex just got bigger − here's why
CRANSTON − A proposed 90-unit apartment complex off of Scituate Avenue in Cranston just got a little bigger after the Cranston City Plan Commission approved the addition of 18 units to the project last week.
David Taglianetti, representing Johnston-based developer Carpionato Group, said the original plans for Meridian Pointe, originally called Champlin Hills, called for a 5,000-square-foot commercial space and a clubhouse, but the new plans have nixed those in favor of building an 18-unit, three-story apartment building in the same footprint.
The project would be just east of Scituate Vista Drive, on Scituate Avenue.
A house on the property will be then transformed into a clubhouse and a pool built next to it, Taglianetti, the vice president of development, said.
The project was originally a by-right development, meaning the developer did not need to ask for a zoning change or special permission. But, at the meeting last week, they came extending an unexpected gift to the city — making 15% of the units "affordable" in the entire development, so long as they could build them in the second phase, which will total 152 units, for a total of 37 affordable units.
The final plans for the first phase of the project, with 72 market-rate units, were first fully approved in 2017.
Project attorney Thomas Moses said the increase in residential units if a function of the soaring cost of construction and that they would bring in more money than the originally planned commercial uses.
In an interview, Cranston Planning Director Jason Pezzullo said he did not know about plans to make 15% of the apartments affordable. When the original plans were approved, city officials were not asking housing projects for affordable units.
"We didn't prompt them for that, and that was not nothing," he said. "It was a pleasant surprise. I was kind of startled, actually."
Pezzullo said normally developers will more readily offer an affordable housing component when asking for big variances, like higher density.
"They were asking for a height variance and a use variance for the club house, which in the big scheme of things, is pretty minor," he said.
In an analysis, Pezzullo wrote that the proposed project is surrounded by other apartment complexes that are also taller than what zoning allows by right, from two to four stories, and letting the building go from 35 feet to 63 feet would be in line with the area.
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What the units will look like
Taglianetti said the 90 units in the initial development will be a 50-50 mix of studio and one-bedroom apartments and two-bedroom apartments, ranging in size from 700 to 1,200 square feet. One four-story building will contain 48 units and have an elevator while two three-story buildings would split the remaining 42 units.
What will the second phase of the project look like
The second phase of the project, which has not been submitted to the city yet, would consist of 152 units in total, including 37 "affordable" units, Taglianetti said. Those plans will be submitted within two to three months as they go through the process of getting state permits.
The project will continue to follow Cranston's parking regulations of two parking spaces per one residential unit. For the first phase, that means 180 parking spaces.
For this project, affordable housing follows the state definition and is restricted to people making 80% of the area median income. In all but six coastal communities, the income limits range from $54,150 for a single person, to $77,350 for a family of four.
The state's definition of "affordable housing" also means the maximum rent paid, including utilities, is a maximum of 30% of the household's gross income.
Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Affordable housing added to Cranston Meridian Pointe apartment project
