The bill amends Section 45-53-10 of the General Laws in Chapter 45-53, establishing a program for the repurposing of vacant school buildings into affordable housing. The program will be administered by the Department of Housing and aims to provide guidance and assistance in identifying and repurposing unused school buildings. Each municipality is required to provide the Department with a complete list of buildings abandoned or no longer being used by the school district for the purposes of conducting feasibility assessments to repurpose the buildings as affordable housing, regardless of their current low- or moderate-income housing percentage.

The bill introduces a task force, convened by the Secretary of Housing, comprised of the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corporation, the Department of Environmental Management, the Department of Health, and a fire marshal, to develop assessment criteria for determining the suitability of school buildings for repurposing. If a building meets the established criteria, the Department of Housing may facilitate a feasibility study to estimate the costs of repurposing the building for affordable housing.

Once a building is determined to be appropriate for repurposing through a completed feasibility study, the Department of Housing, in collaboration with the respective municipality, may invite prospective developers to submit proposals for redevelopment of the site through a competitive process. The Department of Housing will also maintain a dedicated webpage for the program, detailing the outcomes of feasibility assessments and associated costs.

The act will take effect upon passage.

Statutes affected:
611: 45-53-10
611  SUB A: 45-53-10