Residents around Coggeshall school have a vision for its use. How did developers respond?

The developers hoping to renovate the former Coggeshall Elementary School building into an apartment building have hit a negotiation stalemate with the neighbors surrounding the property on one key feature of their proposal: the three standalone duplexes to be built behind the historic property.

“The message that sends is you hear us but you’re not listening,” Newport resident Rebecca Kane said. “The money is speaking. You’re making money at the cost of our neighborhood.”

BCM Realty Partners, the residential development group that also renovated the former Cranston-Calvert Elementary School into apartments, retooled its original vision for the Coggeshall Elementary apartments after feedback it received from abutters and residents at a community meeting in October. The primary takeaways from that meeting, attorney Peter Regan said, were that neighbors were concerned about preserving the green space at Coggeshall Park, the projected price of the rental units, and the three new duplexes BCM Realty proposed as a part of the project.

Many residents argued in October that the driveways for the duplexes would impact traffic and parking on Evart Street, which is already burdened with speeding and parking issues, according to the residents.

To address residents’ concerns, BCM Realty made a few alterations to the plan by removing the half-court basketball court and park benches originally proposed at Coggeshall Park and consolidating the parking for the duplexes from three driveways to two, wider driveways.

Regan pitched this retooled version of the project to a group of residents and abutters on Monday who were still dissatisfied with the duplexes remaining on the project, arguing the duplexes were an unnecessary additional strain on the traffic flow of Evart Street.

“This is a big project,” Philip Young, a Newport resident and landlord on an abutting apartment building, said. “We’re already swamped with people, and we all have cars. There’s not going to be a change in American life anytime soon.”

However, Regan told the group that the duplexes were added to make the project financially viable for the developer because of the high cost of renovating the deteriorating Coggeshall School. BCM Realty is currently in the negotiating phase with the city of Newport to buy the property and the adjoining four lots, which they are expected to purchase for just $1 million.

Rent prices also a concern

Like the conversation on the duplexes, the arguments against the proposed rents for the apartment units also hit a dead end on Monday. BCM Realty did not alter the rent prices from their original proposal, which range from $1,800 for a one-bedroom unit in the Coggeshall School building to $2,400 for the two-bedroom duplex units. While many still argued against the idea that these rates are affordable to “workforce” residents, the target demographic of the apartments being those who earn within the same bracket as teachers, nurses and firefighters, resident Penelope Hunt asked if the company had considered her request to put a rent price restriction on the property’s deed that would ensure the price remained somewhat affordable. Regan responded that it's being discussed, but those kinds of negotiations would have to happen after BCM Realty is able to purchase the building.

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In a bid for compromise, the Planning Board chair Jeff Brooks addressed the group in his capacity as a resident of the city. He said projects like what BCM Realty is proposing will increase the rental housing stock of the city.

Brooks is also a real estate agent. He said he plans to put a ground-floor one-bedroom on the market soon for $1,800, similar to the prices being asked for by BCM Realty, and expects several applications because of how the rental market is right now.

“When I say the city needs housing, this is what the city needs,” Brooks said. “Go out and try to rent something right now, there’s nothing available to rent.”

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Coggeshall Elementary School development stalls with resident feedback