Situated between College Hill and Downtown Providence, a new project currently under construction will soon provide scores of new housing units for students and young professionals.
Flanked by Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design, with Johnson and Wales University nearby, The Edge is a 15-story mixed-use building located between North Main Street and Canal Street, bounded to the south by Elizabeth Street.
“When this project is done, we’ll have hundreds of new apartments and shops anchoring this part of the city, connecting the East Side to the downtown,” Gov. Gina Raimondo said in a statement. “That means more construction jobs, permanent jobs, tax revenue and overall more economic activity in our capital city.”
The 155,000-square-foot development, which is slated to be finished in time for when college students move in on Sept. 1, will feature 202 residential units and approximately 10,000 square feet of retail space. The nearly $57 million project will have studio apartments and one- and two-bedroom units, with rent in the $1,500 to $2,000 range.
Amenities include a top floor common room and a southwest facing terrace, as well as a fitness center and first floor lobby space. Overlooking the Providence skyline, College Hill and the Rhode Island State House, the units will feature over-sized windows, high-end ceilings, fully equipped kitchens and fold-down beds that tuck into contemporary cabinetry when not in use.
Developer Vision Properties received $3 million in Rebuild Rhode Island tax credits, as well as $1 million for tax reimbursement of eligible construction and build out costs. Construction of the project led to a one-time increase of nearly $30 million in GDP and 334 construction jobs.
“This project is the latest in a string of new developments happening across Rhode Island and is one of the reasons why the state has added construction jobs at a higher rate than anywhere else in the country,” Rhode Island Secretary of Commerce Stefan Pryor said in a statement.
“We are seeing more construction in Providence than we have had in about a decade,” Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza added.
Projects such as The Edge have given the Ocean State’s economy a resurgence in recent years.
According to state and federal data, the state’s average unemployment rate fell 3.2 percentage points between 2014 and 2017, the largest drop in the U.S. In 2017, the state economy grew at 3.8 percent, the fastest in the Northeast, and that same year, Rhode Island workers saw earnings rise by 5.7 percent, the fastest in the country.
