Providence, RI – Omni Development Corporation (Omni), in conjunction with Wingate Companies (Wingate), announced their joint-venture partnership to redevelop Barbara Jordan II Apartments (BJII).
Omni-Wingate plans to demolish 74 units of existing substandard housing and replace them with 83 units of new construction to be contained in 12 proximate buildings. The rental units will be comprised of a mix of one, two and three-bedroom apartments, all of which will be affordable to residents earning between 30% and 80% of Area Median Income.
The project will be a mixed-use development, including office space for community service providers, central laundry and community meeting space, as well as an on-site management office for Wingate. The partnership will be applying for both 9% and 4% Low Income Housing Tax Credits in order to construct the mixed-use development.
The Omni-Wingate partnership is spearheaded by two female leaders in the New England affordable housing development community, Sharon Morris of Omni and Elizabeth Schuster of Wingate.
Virginia Branch, associate principal at DBVW Architects, vision led the team to the innovative and transformational design choice to replace decades-long, blighted and abandoned properties with 12 new, well-designed, energy efficient, and amenitized buildings was also a major component of the proposal’s success. Barbara Sokoloff Associates (BSA), a Women’s Business Enterprise of Providence Rhode Island, was integral to underwriting a financially feasible project.
