Central Falls breaks ground on housing project

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. (WLNE) — Officials celebrated the ground breaking of a new affordable housing project today.

Central Street Development will see 62 units across Central Street, with a mix of affordable and workforce housing. There will be 30 new units, an 32 older housing units will be rehabbed.

As rent skyrockets across the state, officials say the apartments will start at $750 a month for low income residents.

Talks of this project started back in 2019. According to staff, units will be deed-restricted for the next thirty years, as the housing units will stay housing for the foreseeable future.

In a statement, Executive Director at PCF Development Linda Weisinger said:

“It’s one step towards the goal right? I mean its creating more housing, it’s creating more affordable rental opportunities for families who are cost burdened, paying more for rent than they should. Typically you should not spend more than 30 percent of your income towards rent, and many families are paying more than 50 percent towards rent.”

In a statement, Rep. Joseph Shekarchi said:

“This project that we’re here today celebrating and talking about is exactly the kind of housing we need. Linda talked about it, she went through the capitol stack. You have federal funds, you have state funds, you have non-profit funds, you have city and town funds. You have funds from everywhere to make it work.

Central Falls Mayor Maria Rivera also commented:

“There’s ways to get this done. You put the right people in the right place at the right time. You build relationships, and this is what happens. I’m a hands-on person. There’s a need in the community, right? There’s no reason to keep talking about the same thing, let’s just get the work done.”

All of the units will be income based, which means they will need to fall within specific income ranges. Weisinger said the units should be completed in the next two years, and they hope this will help people move to and stay in the Central Falls area.