Hello!

If we haven’t had the pleasure of speaking already this year, then we wish you a Happy New Year! 2023 was filled with a wide range of projects including residential, multifamily, commercial, education, healthcare and municipal buildings. We were excited to see several projects complete construction throughout 2023 and join our portfolio. We also celebrated 10 years in business!

The first couple months of the year are typically the slowest for us, but we have already received a large number of new project inquiries with several starting up, and construction is progressing on several active projects. We continue to hear from many homeowners looking to expand their current homes, which we think speaks to the state of the housing market and we share more about that topic in the market update you’ll find in this newsletter.

We are also excited to be starting several new multifamily developments including an adaptive reuse project that will be taking advantage of new RI zoning legislation, and a couple new construction multifamily developments totaling 40-50 new apartments. We are proud to work with our amazing clients to be part of the solution to the housing shortage. Our communities desperately need more housing development as we discuss below.

We are thrilled to launch this newsletter and provide additional value to our community. Emails like this will be sent out periodically to share project updates, industry and local news that may impact you, our perspective on market conditions, development opportunities, trends, FAQ, upcoming events, great causes we support and more.

We think you’ll find something helpful in each issue, so give it a read, share it with anyone you think will find it helpful, and please reply to this email with comments or questions, we’d really love to hear from you!

Sincerely,

The David Sisson Architecture Team

www.ds-arch.com 

What you'll find in this newsletter:

• Project Showcase

• Project Updates

• Industry News 


  • RI Adaptive Reuse Law

  • ADU Bills Considered in both MA and RI

• Community Poll

• By the Numbers

• Market Insight

  • The Quick Version

  • The Full Version

• Local Development Opportunities

• Non-Profit News

  • Upcoming Event

Project Showcase

Project Updates

Christine Apartments - East Providence, RI 

Project: New Construction, 416 apartments plus clubhouse and gym

Construction is progressing nicely in East Providence, with 5 out of 8 buildings now completed and occupied by tenants. Building 6 is nearly complete, Building 7 is making great progress and Building 8 has framing nearly complete. The clubhouse and fitness center are both complete and operational, as are the pool (closed for winter), tennis and pickleball courts. The remaining construction is expected to be completed later on this year, so stay tuned for professional photography hopefully in the Fall.

The Noble Apartments - Providence, RI 

Project: Adaptive reuse of an abandoned historic church more than a century old, designed into 15 apartments with amenity spaces.

Construction continues in Providence at this historic church adaptive reuse project. Framing is complete and the rough electrical and plumbing are done.

Private Residence 

- Seekonk, MA 

Project: Unique modern home addition featuring greenhouse space, a roof deck and observatory dome.

Toward the end of 2023, the long awaited observatory dome arrived and was lifted into place on this unique home addition project. Construction was completed and the homeowners styled it and added the finishing touches. Stay tuned for professional photography in the Spring!


Industry News  

RI Adaptive Reuse Law

The new year brings into effect several changes to state zoning laws that could significantly impact real estate development in Rhode Island. In particular, one set of changes focused on adaptive reuse projects will impact many of our development and multi-family housing clients. 

What is Adaptive Reuse? 

Rhode Island law now includes the definition of “adaptive reuse” as “the conversion of an existing structure from the use for which it was constructed to a new use by maintaining elements of the structure and adapting such elements to a new use”. 

Adaptive reuse is about preservation and sustainability and it is one of several answers to the nationwide housing crisis. 

What big change did Rhode Island make to zoning laws?

State lawmakers have removed a major hurdle for adaptive reuse projects, helping developers avoid zoning challenges and also incentivizing consideration of previously challenging potential building conversions. Beginning on 1/1/2024, any commercial structure can be converted to a multi-family residential or mixed use building as a permitted use, regardless of the zoning district. Potential candidates for this newly permitted conversion by-right include offices, school buildings, religious facilities, medical buildings and malls. This new permitted use is now state wide and local municipalities will need to amend their local ordinances. 

What else should developers know?

There are several other exclusions and provisions developers should keep in mind. The newly permitted use will not…

ADU Bills Considered in both MA and RI

In RI, this is the third year in a row legislators are considering passing a broad bill allowing ADUs by right - this feels like it could and should be the year it passes. In MA, the Joint Committee on Housing is considering The Affordable Homes Act put forth at the end of 2023 by Governor Healey, which includes allowing ADUs by right throughout the Commonwealth.

What is an ADU?

An ADU is an “accessory dwelling unit”. This is a legal additional unit on an existing building that is a way to make use of unused or underused space and fill a housing need either for the homeowner or the community. ADUs are seeing a rise in popularity nation wide as states grapple with the ongoing and increasing housing supply shortage.

Why are ADUs being considered by legislators?

The low rate for new home construction in recent years has contributed to some of the lowest housing supply in history. Coupled with broad economic inflation, the housing shortage has forced rapid appreciation of rents and home prices, leaving nearly half of RI renter households and more than a quarter of RI homeowner households cost burdened, spending more than 30% of gross income on housing. By allowing the construction of ADUs by right, states can take advantage of existing unused spaces and let homeowners choose to add units to the housing market.

Why this could be important for you?

The country is starting to go through a historic wave of aging. The assisted living and senior housing market is booming. But imagine if senior homeowners could afford to age in place, or if families could have the freedom to build a small home for their loved ones right on their property without being forced to remove it later on. Or perhaps you are feeling burdened financially and could use additional income from a long term rental at your property. There are so many reasons people and communities will benefit from ADUs.

What would be the positive impact of a broad ADU bill passing?

The passing of a broad ADU bill with reasonable design requirements for safety, would spur the development of a significant number of housing units. It would give homeowners the ability to…

Community Poll

We are big advocates for ADUs here at DSA. We urge you to email or call your local representatives and show them you support the passage of bills making ADUs a by right project! If you want to know who you can contact, just reply to this email and we’ll be happy to point you in the right direction.

By the Numbers 

10 - The number of years we’ve been designing solutions as a firm.

410 - The number of projects we have completed as a firm. These include renovation and new construction projects for a wide range of single family, small and large multifamily, commercial, education and municipal buildings.

< 0.5% - The increase in total number of housing units in existence in Rhode Island in the past 4 years. (This is a crazy low number and a BIG problem) *

100% - The occupancy rate for buildings with 10-19 units in 2022. Vacancy rates have decreased over the past several years, particularly for single family and multifamily buildings up to 49 units. * 


* Source: 2023 Rhode Island Annual Integrated Housing Report

Market Insight

The Quick Version

The 2024 residential real estate market is complex with big opportunities but potentially steep barriers to entry due to inflation. Despite demand, construction rates remain low in RI, but legislative efforts, like the Affordable Homes Act in Massachusetts, aim to incentivize development. Challenges such as inflated construction costs and cautious banks persist.

The Federal Reserve's anticipated rate cuts may lower financing costs, but might not fully ease homebuyer strain unless the housing supply is increased. Homeowners, benefiting from increased equity due to rapid appreciation since the pandemic, seek property improvements as opposed to seeking new homes. Developers continue to pursue multifamily opportunities despite challenges, we are speaking to our clients nearly every day about new potential projects.

The market's trajectory depends on factors such as interest rates, housing inventory, government policies, and rental markets. We are watching for potential boosts in housing starts, achieving a net increase in housing units statewide, impacts on rental markets, and approvals for accessory dwelling units (ADUs). Overall, the market is marked by competing forces of high demand, construction challenges, governmental incentives, and homeowner activity.


The Full Version

Take a few minutes to read our complete market analysis and learn where we see opportunity in the market:

Local Development Opportunities

We always keep our eyes open for interesting development opportunities and share them with our developer community if we aren’t already pursuing them. The change in RI law encouraging more adaptive reuse projects presents more opportunities and at varying price points. These properties could be analyzed as potential candidates for multifamily or mixed-use conversion.

You can click the photo to view the listing. If you see anything you would like us to dig into and analyze with you, just reply to this email and we’ll schedule a time to talk. 


Non-Profit News

We are proud supporters of the ACE Mentor Program of Rhode Island and perhaps you could be too!

The ACE Mentor Program RI is one of over 75 affiliated national programs with the ACE Mentor Program of America. The organization seeks to engage, excite and enlighten high school students to pursue careers in architecture, engineering and construction through mentoring and to support their continued advancement in the industry. 

You can visit www.ACEMentorRI.org to learn more and there is an upcoming event if you’d like to see first hand what the young students are getting out of the program.

Upcoming Event

Thank you for reading our first newsletter! Our goal is to provide as much value to you as possible.

If you were forwarded this newsletter, we’d love to send you more helpful information like this a few times throughout the year. Please subscribe!