Hillcrest Village

Hillcrest Village, a 130-unit property in the Manton neighborhood of Providence, is a seven-story building which sits on nearly five wooded acres at the top of Leander Street. Hillcrest was built in 1980 with federal subsidies making it affordable to low-income seniors and disabled residents. However, by 2005, the property was plagued with low occupancy as well as significant disrepair and POAH was able to enter into discussions with the owner and Rhode Island Housing to purchase and stabilize the property. 

The funding package for the purchase included monies for a number of important upgrades to the building including a new roof, windows and elevator. A security system protects access to both the public entries and to individual apartments and fire/life safety improvements further the sense of security. Improvements to the community space were important to this active resident population and include a computer lab that is heavily used.

In addition to installing new windows, low-energy lighting, low-flow shower-heads and faucets, low-flow toilets, and Energy Star-rated appliances to replace older models, the team also installed a cogeneration machine which uses heat from the existing boiler loops to create electricity.