Developers Thursday shared progress on 11 new single-family homes to a street on Newport's west side. Leaders say the project will boost the neighborhood while adding badly-needed housing stock.
Neighbors say they welcome new housing, but some question the homes' price points and potential impact on their property taxes.
Nonprofit Urban Community Developers Inc. is heading up the project, which is backed by Corporex and financed by the Catalytic Fund and Heritage Bank. The project also makes use of tax-exempt industrial revenue bonds approved by Newport Commissioners last month.
Mayor Tom Guidugli told attendees at the Thursday unveiling the partnership is a vital part of Newport's economic momentum.
"We are proud of our historic neighborhoods," he said. "But we are also not afraid to welcome new residents, new investment, and new opportunities."
Corporex CEO and UCDI founder Bill Butler cast the project as a unique attempt to address neighborhood challenges like vacant lots and blight.
"We had 11 lots here, and we asked if we could acquire them to create a model project for how you could create infill housing en masse and maybe change a neighborhood trend," he said.
The homes on the 1000 block of Ann Street will be roughly 2,200 square feet and feature amenities like 300-square-foot rooftop decks and electric vehicle chargers.
In addition, UCDI renovated a nearby house, now called the Ann Street Hub, to become a kind of community center where prospective buyers can learn about the new houses and current residents can go to find out about programs that could help them maintain their homes.
UCDI says they new houses be offered at price points "in the high $500,000s."
The developers say the cost represents what it takes to build high-quality, modern homes that will attract buyers. But the price tags are a point of concern for some current Ann Street residents.
Neighbors' concerns
Liz Volker lives across the street from one of the new builds. She says construction has made life difficult for her and her children. She's also worried it will get too expensive to keep the home she owns here — and she's not sure the upscale price points fit the neighborhood.
"Seeing these kinds of expensive builds when you have people literally sleeping on the streets just two streets over from here is very intense, in my opinion," she said.
Carol Michael owns the house next door to Volker's. Her parents bought the property in 1961 and she grew up there. Like Volker, she's worried the new houses will spike her property taxes.
Valuations used to decide how much a homeowner owes in property taxes often rely in part on the values of neighboring homes.
Real estate valuation sites like Zillow show current home values are much lower — ranging from roughly $79,000 to $223,000 — on the same block of Ann Street where the new construction is taking place. One corner building with 4,700 square feet featuring a storefront on the first floor and apartments above sold for $247,000 earlier this year.
Michael also has questions about the fairness of a 30-year partial property tax break new buyers will get. That's part of the industrial revenue bond deal with the city. Under the deal, developers will cover a portion of buyers' property taxes in exchange for use of the municipal bonds.
"I understand," Michael says. "But if they come in and raise ours ... that's not fair to us. If they want to give them a tax break to bring them in, that's fine, but leave ours alone."
Newport Commissioner Ken Rechtin voted against the industrial revenue bond deal. He expressed concerns about the project in its current form gentrifying the neighborhood.
Next steps
Not everyone in the neighborhood is concerned about the new houses. Morgan Black is chair of neighborhood group the Westside Citizens Coalition. She spoke at the project's unveiling Thursday.
"Many of my neighbors and I have walked past these lots for years," she said. "It's nice to see them filled."
UCDI says current homeowners can also utilize the Ann Street Hub for connection to programs that could help them, including a $5,000 grant for facade improvements via nonprofit RENEWport.
"The goal is to ensure that new investment on Ann Street also helps point longtime residents toward resources that support continued pride, stability, and reinvestment in the neighborhood," UCDI said in a news release.
Construction should wrap up next spring on the houses. Crews will also add new trees and other streetscape features as part of the project.
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