Portsmouth council approves ground lease for senior housing project after months of questions from seniors

The Portsmouth Town Council voted 5–0 on Aug. 13 to approve ground-lease agreements and related documents that clear the way for Ade Bethune House, a senior-affordable housing development that includes a town-owned senior-center condo and shared program space.

Christian Belden, executive director of Church Community Housing Corporation, told the council the housing portion will serve people 55 and older, with a mix of income-targeted units: “I think there are 6 units at below 50% of median income. The vast majority are at 60% of median income, and then I think there are 6 at 80% of area median income as well,” he said. Belden also gave rent estimates: “The rents will range from $1,241 per month for 1 bedroom to $1,723 a month for a 2 bedroom.”

The project includes 41 one-bedroom apartments and 14 two-bedroom apartments — about 68 units in total — and a 2,500-square-foot condo for the senior center inside an overall roughly 8,500-square-foot senior-center area that will be shared between residents and the center. Belden said Phoenix Property Management will take over marketing and operations once the project is 70% complete.

Public commenters and senior-center leaders pressed the council to ensure the senior center’s access and programming would be protected. Margie Ratte, chair of the Portsmouth Senior Center board, asked the council to delay the ground lease until the senior center had a formal seat at the table, saying she could not find wording in the draft lease that guaranteed the center’s use of the shared space. “I am requesting that the lease agreement … be delayed until we have a seat at the table and/or included in the ground lease subject to all parties being in agreement,” Ratte said.

Town officials and outside counsel addressed those concerns in detail. The town administrator and project counsel explained the structure: the town will acquire the condo and lease it to the Portsmouth Senior Center; the housing developer will enter a separate service agreement with the senior center after the town owns and leases that condo. Samuel Budway, attorney for the developer, said the ground lease is written to shield the town from financial responsibility for the land and to allow the project to secure conventional financing: “All of the responsibilities associated with taxes, utility charges, and the like, are to be born on behalf of Church Community Housing Corporation,” he said.

Council members also heard that the town’s previous Community Development Block Grant application to acquire the condo was denied because the condo did not yet exist. Rhode Island Housing has provided interim gap funding, and the town will reapply for CDBG funds later; officials said that if CDBG funds are eventually awarded the net cost to the town would be zero.

After questions about waitlists and residency preference, Belden said the property will use a property-specific waitlist and that rent- and income-eligibility rules apply: the development is a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit project with property-level selection and income bands rather than a centralized subsidy waitlist. He noted that federal and state rules limit local residency preference where specific subsidy programs are used, and that this development is structured to retain a property-specific waitlist.

The council’s unanimous approval authorizes the mayor/council to finalize the ground leases for the parcels labeled Area A and Area B and to file the related plans and documents. Council members said subsequent steps will include finalizing the town’s lease with the senior-center organization and the service agreement between the housing owner/operator and the senior center.

What’s next: The developer will proceed with financing and construction steps; once the housing reaches marketing stage (about 70% complete), the property manager will begin tenant selection and lease-up, and the town and senior-center leadership will finalize the operational agreements that set program hours and shared-space rules.