Crossroads is RI is building 3 low-income housing projects. Here's what it needs to finish.

PROVIDENCE − Crossroads Rhode Island is building a lot of new housing across three projects in the city, and public funding for subsidized low-income and supportive housing goes only so far.

To bridge the gap, the nonprofit is looking to raise $15 million in private money to help plug holes in the funding of all three projects to make sure everything speeds along.

Community leaders on Friday put gold-colored shovels into a ceremonial pile of dirt on what will become a 176-unit supportive housing complex at 94 Summer St. That complex will have the same number of rooms as Crossroads' other building next door, often referred to as "The Tower."

The Tower will then be turned from 176 single-occupancy rooms into an 80-unit apartment building.

At the same time, Crossroads is working toward construction on its 371 Pine St. building, a 35-unit apartment building intended for people with medical vulnerabilities, which was recently approved by the Providence City Plan Commission.

In all, Crossroads is looking to add 291 units of housing for the lowest-income and highest-need people in Rhode Island.

Project primer: Work to build 176-unit affordable apartment complex in Providence starts with remediation

Crossroads has already raised $11.2 million in private donations, CEO Karen Santilli said. Most of that money has come from foundations, corporations and a few donors in the state.

"We've hit the ground running and we're hoping to reach our goal by the first quarter of next year," she said.

In a post-pandemic world, rapidly rising construction costs are becoming the norm. Warwick recently had a consultant vet its plans to spend up to $350 million to build two new high schools following worries that construction costs had pushed the total cost of the project beyond what voters approved.

In Crossroads' case, the private funds will primarily help plug budget holes in the Pine Street project but will be needed for all three.

Crews are now working to restore the brick façade of the Tower, also known as the Travelers Aid building.

When will work start on the Summer Street building?

The current timetable for the Summer Street building is the same as the last: construction could start as early as December or January and continue without significant stops depending on how mild, or intense, the winter is.

Crews were able to work on restoration of the Tower all through the last winter, Santilli said

Financing has not yet closed on the project as Crossroads prepares to choose its tax-credit partner.

Construction will take about 20 months. Once the work is completed the people in the Tower will be moved into the new apartment building and the conversion of the Tower will begin.

Santilli said she hopes that when the Tower is converted into apartments, a new nickname with fewer negative connotations might stick.

What work has already been done at Summer Street?

While politicians and community leaders threw dirt on Friday, remediation work on the lot is finished and crews are preparing for 530 geo-piers to be put about 22 feet into the ground to the level of the original peat on the site. The top 22 feet of dirt is fill, said project supervisor Wayne Barber, with TRAC Builders, in Providence, the project's general contractor.

Crews had to dig down 22 feet on a small portion of the site, and one worker came back to Barber with quahog shells.

"That's pretty common throughout Providence," he said.

The geo-piers, pilings made out of rock, will be sunk across the entire site to help stabilize the building and prevent it from settling. Then work on the foundation will begin, followed by framing.

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Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Crossroads RI looks to raise $15 million for three housing projects