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(WJAR) — Projected rents for Superman building fit current market, experts say. While the just released rent for an apartment in the Superman building won’t give someone sticker shock, they certainly aren’t screaming affordable.
The developer estimates rents will cost anywhere from $2,071 to $5,287 depending on the size of the unit. Some in the housing industry tell NBC 10 News the rent prices are slightly high, but fit the current market.
It’s not only Rhode Islanders who are looing for a place to live in the Ocean State, but people who work in Boston, who get paid more, but can’t afford to live there.
“I think that’s a little high especially for the area where it is. Especially the area where Kennedy Plaza would certainly need to be moved, I wouldn’t want to pay that number and look at that,” said Heavenly Strahan, who lives in West Warwick.
Property manager Joe Paolino said the prices for these units aren’t out of line for downtown.
“The rents are in line with what other rents are going for if you compare it to other sections of the city and other main developments,” said Paolino.
Paolino owns several rental buildings in the area and said interest rates must come down first before rent prices.
“ I think we’re living in an inflation period right now. Everything is going up — the cost of a hamburger is going up,” he said. “If you see interest rates are going from 2% to 7% well you have to pay that back and you have to get more for rents.”
Julie Longtin is a real estate broker and said Providence is competing with Boston, New York, and Connecticut, cities that pay better than Rhode Island.
“However, the climbing rents in those areas, they’re basically precluding a lot of people from renting in those markets so we are being competitive even though it’s a big dollar amount for people in Rhode island” said Longtin.
She also added that the market will change before the building is ready for tenants. She thinks the prices should be revisited in the near future.