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Middletown Leads
What is Middletown Leads?
Middletown Leads is a weekly newsletter intended to connect the Middletown community by providing information about civic undertakings by the Town.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR SENIORS
After lengthy discussion, the Town of Middletown has issued a Request
for Proposals relative to a Senior Affordable Housing Feasibility Study to
identify needs, funding options, possible locations, and partners.
Additionally, a market analysis and recommendations will provide a basis for
the Town to make informed decisions.
.
Proposals must
address the following tasks:
Task
1. Identify need - Using
best available practices, determine the need for affordable senior citizen
housing in Middletown. This includes providing estimates of the number, types
and locations of units, and the types of services (on-site or adjacent) needed to
serve the needs of current and future Middletown senior residents.
Task
2. Funding options –
Identify and describe all available funding mechanisms available to the Town
and/or private partner. Include funding eligibility requirements, and process
and timeframes for securing each type of funding.
Task
3. Market analysis - A market
analysis that will provide the Town with an understanding of the potential for
success for non-profit and/or for-profit development of senior housing.
Task
4. Identify potential
locations – Based on the above identified needs, identify preferred location(s)
in town for the development of affordable housing. In consultation with the
Town, evaluate the suitability of particular town-owned and/or private
properties.
Task
5. Identify potential
partners – Identify organizations active in the area who develop, own and
operate Senior Affordable Housing that the Town sees as a model for satisfying
its housing needs. Identify number of
housing units, number of developments, years in operation, local community involvement
and history of partnering with other agencies.
Task
6. Implementation
recommendations – Provide recommendations on the actions the town should take,
including organizational structure, funding, partnerships, etc. to facilitate
development of senior affordable housing.
The submittal deadline is 10:00 a.m. on Friday,
January 25, 2019. It is likely that a recommendation for a consultant will be
forwarded to the Town Council at the February 4, 2019 meeting.
The contract term is to be no more than four
months, which means that the result of the study should reach the Town Council
sometime in June.
LOCATIONS
A number of different buildings have been suggested in recent
years as possible locations for senior housing. A favorite seems to the old
Peckham School, which is conveniently adjacent to the Senior Center on Green
End Avenue although concerns have been expressed about its condition as well as
its distance from the common areas of the town.
Another location that has been mentioned is Oliphant School, which
currently houses the Middletown Public Schools Administration. It offers close
proximity to a shopping center that includes a grocery store.
And then, who knows what possible other locations might become
available when a serious effort is underway?
AFFORDABLE HOUSING - OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
The State of Rhode Island requires that each community contain 10%
affordable housing. Middletown currently has a little over 6%. It should be noted, however, that affordable housing is not by definition senior housing. Affordable housing is intended to serve a number of
different populations including starter homes for families with children as
well as young professionals who can be recruited to work in the companies that
provide the economic foundation for the town. Middletown’s population is aging, so the concern for the senior
citizens is natural. However, the Town must address the needs of other
populations as well.
Connect Greater Newport, a division of the Newport County Chamber
of Commerce, is an organization that is very concerned about the absence of
affordable housing on Aquidneck Island because of the potential impact on
commercial development. A company
considering re-locating on Aquidneck Island will consider not only the economic
potential but also its ability to re-locate its professional staff.
Affordable housing is a priority. If you build it, they will come. Our local economy depends on it.
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