'North Cove' Affordable Housing Enclave Dedicated

State and local officials cut the ribbon on North Cove, 38 affordable rental homes just north of Wickford Village, in a ceremony Tuesday. The development features a compact, traditional design with clusters of homes within a residential community.

“On behalf of the Town Council we applaud the efforts of everyone who worked together to make North Cove a reality,” said Town Councilor Carol Hueston. “We welcome all new and relocated North Kingstown residents, and hope they find our town to be a wonderful place to live and work.”

“The support of the Town of North Kingstown has been instrumental in bringing North Cove to fruition,” said Jackie McDonald, president of North Dartmouth Properties. “The town’s permitting for these homes and the town’s support for CDGB funding for the project has been critical to its success.”

North Cove consists of a mix of building types, including duplexes and four-unit townhouses designed with green, healthy and energy efficient products and materials for sustainability. Parking is situated beside or behind buildings to help strengthen the pedestrian network of the community.

Subdivided from the adjacent Wickford Village Apartments property in spring 2009, North Cove received both preliminary and final master plan approval under the Comprehensive Permit process, along with approval from RIDEM and the necessary assent from the Coastal Resource Management Council (CRMC).

North Cove was made possible with funding provided by Rhode Island Housing, HOME funds, syndication equity from the sale of Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) and a Community Development Block Grant (CBDG) from North Kingstown. RBS Citizens provided a $10 million tax credit equity investment in North Cove through its partnership with Red Stone Equity Partners as part of its recently announced commitment of $1 billion for affordable housing and community development efforts over the next five years throughout its markets.

Construction activity onsite is nearly complete, with 40 percent of the homes occupied and the entire 38 homes ready for occupancy by year’s end. When completed, North Cove will offer 32 two-bedroom and 6 three-bedroom apartments that will be affordable to families earning less than 60 percent of the area median income (AMI). There are approximately 100 people on the waiting list for apartments at North Cove and Wickford Village.

According to HousingWorks RI’s recently released 2013 Housing Fact Book, the average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in North Kingstown was $1,271 in 2012. The median renter income in North Kingstown in 2012 was $33,992, far below the estimated $50,840 annual income needed to afford this rent level. Apartments at North Cove will rent for $700 to $810 for a two-bedroom and $795 to $934 for a three-bedroom apartment.

According to statistics from HousingWorksRI, with North Cove and the nearby Kingstown Crossings II, North Kingstown now has 859 affordable housing units, 236 units shy of the 10 percent state-mandated threshold.