Committee approves sale of 691 Potters Ave. to enable 16-unit housing development

A Providence City Council Committee on City Properties voted to approve terms of purchase and sale for the property at 691 Potters Avenue on Jan. 8, 2025, advancing a planned private, market-rate residential development that city staff said would yield about 16 housing units and increased property tax revenue.

The sale was described by Nick Ciccatelli, the city’s director of real estate, as the result of a Board of Contracts and Supply public bid process in which the incumbent property owner was the sole responsive bidder. Ciccatelli told the committee, “the assessed value, deemed by the assessor's office, was a hundred and 31,200, and the purchase price for this would be a hundred and 35,000.” He said the parcel had been transferred to the Providence Redevelopment Agency (PRA) previously for other municipal uses and was declared surplus after an internal review and the public bidding process.

Why it matters: The committee emphasized the project's potential to bring market-rate housing and new tax revenue into the city. Ciccatelli said the two-parcel approach would increase density: "allowing this to be a two-parcel development will get you 16 units." Members also discussed parking, streetside impacts and procedural approvals.

Details of the sale and development process Ciccatelli told the committee the property originally was transferred to the PRA for possible municipal parts uses and, on request of the adjacent property owner, was put through the required surplus and public-bid procedures. He said the bid met charter requirements — including a provision that a city sale not be for less than 90% of the assessor’s value — and that law department advice led staff to request council confirmation of the transaction.

Committee members asked procedural and project-specific questions. Councilor Randall asked whether Parks Commission approval was still required; Ciccatelli said the parks-related approvals had already been obtained. On parking, Ciccatelli said the project appears to rely primarily on street parking and that "I don't know that there is gonna be parking on-site." Council members also noted that the property sits in Councilman Taylor’s district and that Taylor had not objected to the proposal.

Ciccatelli characterized the proposal as market-rate, privately financed housing: there is no application to the city’s housing trust fund and no identified subsidy. He also said that although the two lots could be administratively merged, the developer could build the planned project without a formal lot merge.

Formal action and next steps The committee approved the resolution to authorize the terms of purchase and sale; the meeting transcript records the motion and that the ayes prevailed but does not record a numerical roll-call tally. The resolution advances the sale subject to the terms presented; staff indicated there were no further city administrative steps required before the developer proceeds with permitting and construction under existing zoning and code processes.

The committee also continued two separate disposition items (listed on the agenda as 14 Alaska Street and 107 Summit Street) to a later date at the request of a council member; those items were not decided at this meeting.