Tiny units: Providence developer proposes 58 apartments on 8,000-square-foot lot in Mt. Hope

PROVIDENCE − A Providence developer is looking to build an apartment building with as many as 58 units in the Mount Hope neighborhood on a lot that now holds a single-family house next to an empty yard.

The first step for the potential project proposed by Kevin Diamond and Dustin Dezube, principals in Providence Architecture and Building Company, is to have the lot at 103 Evergreen St. rezoned to the relatively new R-4 zone.

The Providence City Plan Commission on Tuesday unanimously voted to send a positive recommendation for the zone change to the City Council, which holds the authority to make the change. The City Plan Commission inserted one caveat into their recommendation: that a restriction be added to prevent any units being used as short-term rentals.

This is the second time the City Plan Commission has sent a positive recommendation for an R-4 zone change on a Providence Architecture and Building Company project but tacked on a rider asking the City Council to block any short-term rentals from the project.

Providence has four residential zones, three of which get their numbering from the number of units they allow by right. R-1 is for single-family houses, R-2 for duplexes and R-3 for triplexes. The new R-4 zone, however, allows for dense residential developments by right, something that was not allowed until recently in residentially zoned areas.

If the City Council approves the zone change, the project would be allowed by right, requiring no variances, adjustments or allowances under the city's zoning code.

The current design shows a four-story, five-level building (the first tier being what's often called "garden-level," with window bottoms at ground elevation) that has shake siding at the middle and top of the building and gridded windows on an 8,216-square-foot lot. The building would be 45 feet tall, the maximum allowed.

"We're trying to capture the classic, the quintessential New England style apartment building," Diamond said.

The point is for the building to blend in and not "be a spaceship that landed on the site."

Bringing the maximum capacity

Dezube said in an interview that the proposal for 58 units is the maximum that the site, and the plans, could accommodate. Plans for the development show some very small studio apartments, as small as 203 square feet.

"We show more up front and then have a dialogue and as the project evolves, maybe we dial it down," he said. "The building is in the very, very early stage of design."

If the project moves forward, which would start with the zone change, the plans, including the aesthetics, could easily change as city officials and neighbors give their input on the proposed development.

"It's so early in the process, but otherwise, if we showed like mostly one-bedroom, 800-square-foot apartments and we didn't do that, people would think we're intentionally trying to be deceptive to get approvals," Dezube said. "You have to recognize it's really, really early in the process."

Small units mean affordable units

The current version of the proposed building has relatively small units for a second reason: to bring units onto the market at an affordable price point, Dezube said.

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"We want to create more housing for people in Providence, and not just more housing, but more new housing," Diamond said. "It's one thing to rehabilitate an old building and it's a totally different thing to add new housing."

What's the history of the project?

The property was originally purchased in August 2022 and the initial designs were for five townhouses, what the current zoning would allow. Then, Diamond and Dezube started talking about using the new R-4 zone to create a denser project, especially attractive because there are a number of apartment buildings nearby, Dezube said.

What's the current proposed unit mix?

The current proposed mix of units is 15 studio apartments, 38 one-bedroom apartments and five two-bedroom apartments, according to the plans.

The average square footage for each type is:

• Studio, 217 square feet

• One-bedroom, 318 square feet

• Two-bedroom, 450 square feet

"Pushes the envelope"

At the City Plan Commission meeting on Tuesday, the density of the project raised eyebrows, although it eventually received a positive recommendation.

"This building pushes the envelope, there's no question about it," Deputy Planning Director Bob Azar said.

City officials envisioned buildings in the R-4 zone to have the same "massing and height" as triple-deckers and triplexes, Azar said.

Why did we stop building them? RI's triple-deckers were efficient housing for generations.

"Fifty-eight units, [on a lot of only] 8,000 square feet – no, I had no idea that was possible," Azar said.

Commissioner Charlotte Lipschitz, a principal at the architecture firm Studio NDP in Boston, said it seemed like the proposal's density was identifying a "loophole" in the R-4 zone and the small unit sizes gave her heartburn, even though she is personally working on projects that also feature very small, 220-square-foot apartments.

Chairman Michael Gazdacko said small units first popped onto the scene in The Arcade in downtown Providence. While other were shocked, he thought they were "pretty cool," but they also lend themselves to short-term rental.

The project would not require parking because the lot is less than 10,000 square feet, although current plans show four parking spaces, as well as 12 bike parking spaces.

A short-term rental crisis?

The last time Diamond and Dezube came to the City Plan Commission looking to advance R-4 zone changes, for three buildings totaling 59 units in Federal Hill, the commissioners added the same note to their recommendation to the City Council, to block the properties from being used as short-term rentals.

"It is to satisfy the city's housing need," Diamond said. "The intent is not to create short-term rentals."

Under the city's current zoning rules, short-term rentals are limited to owner-occupied units in all the residential zones except R-4.

How did we get here? Rhode Island's housing crisis is at a breaking point.

In Providence, the state short-term rental database shows 481 active properties, while in Narragansett, there are more than double that, 1,072, and in Newport, there are 570.

There are 5,500 hotel rooms in Providence, according to the Providence Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Positive recommendation also sent for West End change to industrial zone next to residential

During the meeting, the commission also forwarded a positive recommendation to the City Council to rezone three lots at 706 Potters Ave. from the R-3 residential zone to a mixed-use industrial district to allow a plumbing supply store, Iroquoian Supplies, to expand and create a space to work on its fleet of vehicles on three parcels between Chambers and Seabury streets.

The neighbors to the rear of the business are houses while across the street is an American Legion post.

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Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Providence developer proposes 58-unit apartment building in Mount Hope