Amherst Gardens, $10.4M project in Olneyville, begins

A MAP OF THE AMHERST Gardens project area. Development has started on the project, which features 36 affordable rental apartments and two commercial spaces in the Olneyville neighborhood, according to ONE Neighborhood Builders / COURTESY ONE NEIGHBORHOOD BUILDERS
A MAP OF THE AMHERST Gardens project area. Development has started on the project, which features 36 affordable rental apartments and two commercial spaces in the Olneyville neighborhood, according to ONE Neighborhood Builders / COURTESY ONE NEIGHBORHOOD BUILDERS

PROVIDENCE – Development has started on 36 affordable rental apartments and two commercial spaces in the Olneyville neighborhood this month, according to ONE Neighborhood Builders, a nonprofit community development corporation.
The $10.4 million project, called Amherst Gardens, involves the rehabilitation or replacement of 16 properties primarily along the Amherst Street corridor.
Many of the properties were vacant, abandoned and/or highly distressed when ONE│NB acquired them, according to a recent press release from the organization.
A community celebration is being planned for September.
“We are excited to be starting construction,” Wendy Nicholas, ONE│NB’s interim executive director, said in a statement.
She said the project has been in the works for several years.
“In producing 36 new apartments in 14 different buildings, ONE Neighborhood Builders is continuing its campaign to improve the neighborhood, block-by-block, making it a better place for families to live, to raise their children and to find employment,” Nicholas said.

Funding for Amherst Gardens is coming from Rhode Island Housing, the city of Providence, the state of Rhode Island, the Federal Home Loan Bank, Citizens Bank (which provided $6.6 million in construction financing) and the National Equity Fund. TD Bank provided early financing for the property acquisition.

Barbara Fields, Rhode Island Housing executive director, said the development “will reinvigorate blighted properties into vibrant, much-needed housing for families.”

“The Amherst Gardens initiative builds upon other investments in housing, commercial development, parks and the arts – all of which are enhancing the quality of life in the Olneyville neighborhood,” Fields said.

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Amherst Gardens follows ONE│NB’s Olney Village development, completed three years ago, in the area around the William D’Abate School. That project created 40 affordable apartments and several commercial spaces now featuring community assets such as a food pantry serving 450 families each month and the Manton Avenue Project, an after-school arts and theater program.

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