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- DSA Newsletter #2:
DSA Newsletter #2:
Housing news, Land Use and Zoning changes, Market Insight, Project Updates and more
David Sisson
May 15, 2024
Hello!
Spring is here, the trees are in bloom and at the DSA HQ we are rocking! We are currently helping our clients through various stages of recent design projects from new construction apartment buildings in Providence and a university interior renovation, to commercial projects in RI and MA and residential projects throughout Southern New England and more. We are looking forward to interesting new projects starting soon moving into Summer.
We are excited to share this report and provide additional value to our community. Emails like this are 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 hope you’ll find this helpful and interesting, so give it a quick read and share it with anyone you think will find it useful. To reach us you can simply reply to this email with comments or questions, we’d love to hear from you!
Sincerely,
The David Sisson Architecture Team
What you'll find in this newsletter:
Project Showcase
A dilapidated building in a neighborhood off Main Street in East Greenwich, RI needed to be demolished and we helped our client Touchdown Realty Group realize five new townhomes. The lot is oddly shaped, but we were able to maximize the lot by pushing as close to the front setback as possible, adding a parking lot and garage access in the rear and making the height 3 stories. Using entry canopies, vertical trim and a historic color palette, we were able to retain the character of individual homes to fit the historic neighborhood. The double roof line creates the appearance of a dormer and a more residential scale.
Project Update
The Nauticus Apartments - Bristol, RI
Project: 16 new construction apartments with attached garages in Bristol, RI
The buildings are now complete and units are leasing fast! Final landscaping touches are to be completed and this one will be ready for our photographer.
Recent Publication
Union Primary School Lofts showcased in Rhode Island Monthly’s April Issue
Rhode Island Monthly April 2024
Industry News
Maximizing Land Use and Increasing Density
Land use and density have become a focus for the state of Rhode Island, along with cities like Providence who have made changes to zoning and proposed land use changes as part of their greater Comprehensive Plan. Providence conducted community surveys to take a reading on the public’s priorities. Building more affordable housing was the resounding top answer. They also found that the population increased more than 7% over the past decade, student and short term housing had an impact on the existing housing stock, and residential vacancy rates are the lowest in decades. Bottom line: we need more housing.
However, national headlines scream that Providence and RI have the lowest rate of home construction in the country. To make matters even more difficult, Zillow predicted Providence to be one of the hottest housing markets in the country for 2024!
Increasing development requires a fresh look at zoning, and Providence and the State of Rhode Island are starting to finally take a crack at it. At the state level, they removed dimensional requirements for substandard lots with RI Gen Laws 45-24-38. Effective this year, zoning relief for failure to meet minimum lot size requirements is not needed. Setbacks and frontage were to be reduced with this law as well, in an effort to make the most use of small, previously unusable lots. Quality housing can be designed on small lots, and we’ve done it! Check out this great example.
In Providence, though their proposed changes exist purely in their greater vision for the city, and zoning changes would have to follow suit, it shows their mindset is adapting to the worsening housing crisis and sets the tone for the city’s direction for the next decade. Their vision primarily is focused on increased density through changes to the zoning map: allowing for increased unit counts in neighborhoods where multifamily houses make sense (a lot of Providence), allowing ADUs, and updating zoning to allow the rebuilding of existing housing supply that wouldn’t currently conform to their zoning ordinance. You can see their proposed changes to land use here. Zoning officials have started to adapt to the current and future housing needs, however, by eliminating minimum lot size requirements in their own zoning ordinance for existing lots. Its a start.
Let’s continue to push for continued changes to zoning that allow for development of the housing we so desperately need.
More news that could impact development.
And important legislation, in case you missed it.
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.
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.
By the Numbers
61 - The number of additional new construction apartments in Providence, RI that we moved into the design development phase during Q1 2024.
0 - The minimum required lot size requirement for all residential and commercial districts in Providence, RI.
11.4% - The year over year increase in median sales price for single family homes in Rhode Island in March 2024, a whopping $440,000.*
19% - The year over year decrease in multifamily sales in Rhode Island in March 2024. Meanwhile, the median sales price rose nearly 19% to $535,000.*
100% - The occupancy rate for multifamily 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: RI Association of Realtors
** Source: 2023 Rhode Island Annual Integrated Housing Report. We kept this one in here from the last issue, in case you missed it, because it really demonstrates the demand for development right now, even with rising rents.
Market Insight
Q2 2024 Quick Market Update
From where we are sitting, the market continues to surprise a lot of commentators who have continued to predict impending doom since 2015 or earlier. The Fed has hinted at future interest rate cuts, but has held fast on their inflation reduction strategy. Despite high rates, demand for homes in the Northeast remains very strong, with homes still selling for $30-50k + over asking price. We’ve seen vacant land prices increase accordingly as well. Housing supply is still low and development can’t happen fast enough.
The ADU bills that entered the MA and RI legislatures this year have not moved. We strongly believe the passage of those bills will open up a massive opportunity for homeowners, home buyers and housing developers. Email your local representatives!
As in any market, deals are there to be found, and savvy developers are doing just that. The developer friendly adaptive reuse laws in RI are making a lot of properties a lot more attractive for investment. Similarly in Boston, efforts to ease the path to converting existing underused office space to housing are underway. This type of support for creative thinking is crucial in Southern New England, where we simply don’t have as much available land and need to maximize the use of existing structures and density.
Have a question about your home, building or a development?
Just reply to this email and we’ll reach out to help.
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.
21-25 Broad St Pawtucket, RI
 45 Old Flat River Coventry, RI  297 Dexter St Providence, RI |  162 Main St Woonsocket, RI  180 Weeden St Pawtucket, RI |
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
Please join ACE Mentor Program of Rhode Island for a monthly happy hour event to network and build relationships with fellow industry professionals, Thursday, 6/6/24 at 5:00-7:00 PM at Moniker Brewing in Providence, RI.
Upcoming Local Events
June 8, 2024 - Annual Festival of Historic Houses
Presented by the Providence Preservation Society. Visit ProvidenceHouseTour.com for more details.
June 17, 2024 - Architectural River Boat Tour
Presented by the Providence Preservation Society and the Providence River Boat Company. Click HERE for more details.
If you know someone who might find this information helpful, please forward it to them!