Above: Local and state officials at the ceremonial ground-breaking for Frenchtown Road Apartments Oct. 13, from left: Becca Schofield, Pennrose; Carol Ventura, Ex. Director RI Housing; Sen. Jack Reed, Charlie Adams, Pennrose; Stefan Pryor, R.I. Dept. of Housing; Town Council President Mark Schwager; Ruth Feder, president of Cove Homes; Don Annicelli, vice president of Cove Homes, and Tracy Johnson of Cove Homes and EG Housing Authority. Photo courtesy of R.I. Housing
Sen. Jack Reed led a delegation of state and local officials Oct. 13 to commemorate the ceremonial ground-breaking for the 63-unit all-affordable Frenchtown Road Apartments just west of Route 4 at 655 Frenchtown Road. The 63 apartments will be a mix of one- and two-bedroom units (30 and 33 respectively) in a single, four-story building, developed by Cove Homes Inc. (a nonprofit affiliated with the East Greenwich Housing Authority) and Pennrose Corp.
For Cove Homes – which has shepherding this project – the moment was a long time coming.
After the official first shovelfuls, Don Annicelli, vice president of Cove Homes, EG Housing Authority Executive Director Tracy Johnson, and Becca Schofield of Pennrose share a light moment. Photo courtesy of R.I. Housing
Construction has begun at Frenchtown Road Apartments. Photo courtesy of R.I. Housing
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Wonder how many of these units will house East Greenwich people ? They said the same thing when Shoreside was built but many of the units went to people from “Away”, NY-NJ etc. My guess it will be filled by people from Providence. I have heard some people say if they wanted to live in Providence, they would have moved there.
While it’s no secret EG and many towns in RI are in need of affordable housing it seems that no real thought or planning goes into effectively implementing these projects. Why doesn’t the planning board look at locations that are already developed and vacant for instance? And along public transportation routes? This project doesn’t even fall along a bus line, and it destroyed more trees and natural habitat for plants and animals as well as removed more sound barrier from Rte 4. As a resident that lives nearby and has to access Frenchtown Rd to exit our neighborhood it is already a highly congested area and a traffic nightmare to get out now, never mind adding another large volume of cars of people who will be living in the new development. I fully support adding more affordable housing but in a way that makes sense and can seamlessly integrate into an area not cause significant disruptions. I would invite anyone who attended and praised the groundbreaking ceremony to return to the development between the am or pm rush hours, they will see the line of cars that often extends from Davisville Rd to S County Tr and the nonstop traffic streaming onto Frenchtown towards Rte 4. The people who live in the new development will also only be able to make a right turn on Frenchtown Rd to get out. It seems like the town and the state are only interested in meeting a quota rather than implementing affordable housing projects that are thoughtful and actually make sense.