Town Closes on ChurchWoods Property

The Town of Charlestown used $325,000 of its Affordable Housing Bond funding to purchase the ChurchWoods property from the Rhode Island Episcopal Diocese on Tuesday, June 30, 2015.

The site for these 24, one-bedroom, affordable housing rental units for senior citizens is adjacent to the Church of the Holy Spirit on Route 1A.

Attorney David Petrarca, representing The Town, and Diocesan Treasurer Mr. Robert L.G. Batchelor, representing the Diocese, passed papers in the Charlestown Town Hall.

Said Charlestown Town Council President Tom Gentz, “Geoff Marchant, President of the Washington County Community Development Corporations, The Rev. Dr. Michael Tessman, the 2011 pastor of the Church of the Holy Spirit, and I have waited years for this moment and are thrilled that the project has the funding needed to build well-constructed affordable units that meet the needs of our residents.”

Tessman added that Geoff Marchant worked tirelessly to find funding that would minimize the cost to Charlestown taxpayers and deserves kudos for writing the grant that brought $4.3 M to ChurchWoods through Superstorm Sandy Disaster Relief aid.

Marchant, in turn, thanked Tessman and the Episcopal Diocese for their patience in holding the property for years longer than they would have liked and thanked the Housing Resource Commission for approving the gap funding through the Sandy Disaster Relief aid.

The housing will be ready for occupancy in late summer of 2017.