McKee, Pryor speak on affordable housing in Olneyville neighborhood

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WJAR) — The McKee administration says Rhode Island is making housing a priority for everyone, whether they're living on the cold or trying to buy a home that's affordable.

Stefan Pryor, a longtime state administrator, is taking on perhaps the biggest challenge of his career: running the Department of Housing when homes are expensive and when some say the homeless are not being helped enough.

Pryor and Gov. Dan McKee toured affordable apartments in Providence on Tuesday.

The project opened in 2021, and as much as they wish this was a ribbon cutting, those are few and far between. It's taking too long for similar apartments and affordable homes to be built.

"We need to get out of the scenario where Rhode Island is bottom of the list or close to it for the rate of housing production compared to other states," Pryor said.

Pryor is only two days into his new job as housing czar. He has more than a $250 million at his disposal, and the state's letting him add 20 people to his staff.

There's no lack of resources, and Pryor said he knows taxpayers are watching. He's reviewing that spending.

"We'll be undertaking an assessment of the expenditures, the contracts, the performance measures across the board," Pryor said.

Until now, the housing department hasn't exactly lived up to expectations.

When winter arrived, the state had to rush to make a shelter at the ancient Cranston Street Armory, which ended up being a cold place to stay when the temperature dipped below zero last weekend.

Pryor pledged it's the last time they'll be caught off guard.

"The planning begins now for next winter," he said.

.Pryor is talking to leaders in every town and city in the state to get more homes and apartments underway, but some rural communities are reluctant to get in the housing boom, since it might put a strain on local resources and crowd schools.