Georgiaville Village Green is the first affordable housing development for families in Smithfield, R.I.
In addition to bringing housing to the historic mill village, the new 42-unit community is significant because it remediated and replaced a brownfield that was once the home of the Narragansett Gray Iron Foundry. The project also led to the cleanup of contaminated lagoons and the restoration of nearby riverbanks.
“The development fits right in perfectly with the area like it’s always been there,” says Julie Leddy, executive director of the Coventry Housing Authority. The housing authority’s affiliate, Coventry Housing Associates, teamed with Gemini Housing Corp., an arm of the Smithfield Housing Authority, and consultant Barbara Sokoloff Associates on the project.
It’s one of the first times that two housing authorities in the state collaborated to develop a sizable project, according to Clare Fortin, head of the Smithfield agency.
The new homes include three one-, 18 two-, and 21 three-bedroom units to meet the needs of families in the region. The apartments are earmarked for residents earning no more than 60% of the area median income (AMI). Five homes are reserved for residents earning no more than 30% of the AMI and include access to supportive services through the federal Section 811 program for people with disabilities.
The former brownfield has become home to one of the greenest developments in the area with a storm water runoff management and a 46-kW solar photovoltaic systems.
The $11.6 million project is financed with low-income housing tax credits and is the first to use the state Acquisition and Revitalization Program, which is supported by a state bond approved by Rhode Island voters in November 2016.
