The Cowl | Scheduled for October 2026
On the sloping hill of Eaton Street, Charlie Hergott ‘27 and his roommates found their senior house at the beginning of their sophomore year—a rite of passage followed by many Providence College students who plan to live off-campus in their senior year. After settling on a house they call Cuddy Hunk, the group paid a deposit at the end of their sophomore year.
In the neighborhoods surrounding Providence College, the student and family housing markets are, for the most part, two distinct entities that overlap in housing stock. Students often rent by person, according to Hergott, while families rent by unit, says data from the Providence Housing Crisis Task Force Report.
The distinction between the two markets matters as Providence adds housing at a pace the city has not seen in decades. In fiscal year 2026, the city issued 988 certificates of occupancy, allowing nearly twice FY2025’s total of new residential units. About 40% were designated as affordable. But the city did not specify the locations of the units, making it unclear whether this new supply creates alternatives for students, families, or both.
“It feels like a good bang for my buck,” Hergott said of Cuddy Hunk. The house, recently remodeled to include central air, costs his group of nine $1,200 per person. Hergott described proximity to campus as the biggest factor in his housing choice.
“It’s like a beach house. The closer you are to the ocean, the more you’re going to pay,” said Shannon Kay Russel, operations manager of the 02908 Club, the student housing provider from which Hergott rents.
According to Russel, the company provides student housing across more than 150 properties and serves around 1,300 tenants around campus. A majority—roughly 1,000 to 1,100—are Providence College students. The Providence Preservation Society has identified 02908 as the major housing operator in the neighborhood. Of the 258 parcels around PC, the company owns 132.
02908 states that there is no new construction in PC’s neighborhoods. “If there was,” Russel said, “there wouldn’t be a problem of students choosing to live elsewhere because they want proximity to campus.”
The lack of alternative housing near PC leaves students in houses that were not originally intended for them—properties the Preservation Society describes as two- and three-family homes.
In Federal Hill Capital v. City of Providence, a 2020 case concerning Providence’s student-housing zoning rules, the Rhode Island Supreme Court cited Elmhurst residents who described family-owned homes as integral to the neighborhood. “The family-owned and occupied house is, and has always been, the heart of Elmhurst,” a community member wrote.
Brenda Clement, an expert on Providence housing at HousingWorks RI, said that around half of Providence renters are cost-burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of their gross annual income on housing. This statistic helps illustrate how the same property can have different economic value depending on who rents it.
The Cowl calculated a median asking price of about $850 per month for a bedroom across 17 Elmhurst listings online, with prices ranging from $650-$1,200. By comparison, a nine-student household like Hergott’s can pay $1,200 per bedroom each month. A property can therefore have very different earning potential depending on whether it is rented to students or families.
The Providence Preservation Society lists the neighborhoods around Providence College in its 2025 Most Endangered Places list, noting “gentrification, displacement, and demolition” as threats. Their list names prominent housing investors like the 02908 Club. 02908 disputes that characterization, arguing that families do not want to live there.
“There were never many families amongst these houses,” Russel said, “We were asked by families to buy their houses because they didn’t want to live near college students.”
But Clement argues that students can pay more than families for the same housing. “It’s much cheaper for a landlord to rent to students,” she said.
These dynamics are more visible in some neighborhoods than others. Near Brown University, for example, Dexter Strong, a board member of the College Hill Neighborhood Association, has seen six houses in his neighborhood converted to student housing. He described the change as the free market at work. “The revenue potential for renting to students is very high. Families choose to sell to developers because they outbid other buyers; it’s hard for families to resist.” Strong’s experience reflects a larger concern among neighborhood advocates that student housing is changing the surrounding housing market.
The overlap between the student and family housing markets is not consistent across the Providence. Near PC, the student market is concentrated based on demand for proximity to campus. In College Hill, Strong describes students as more integrated into residential neighborhoods. Though the markets have different renters, prices, and geographic locations, they can intersect at the same properties.
The more difficult question is how many properties have shifted from one market to the other—and whether new housing is creating opportunities for either group.
For some housing advocates, the answer is to create more housing specifically for students instead of relying on the existing residential market. “Like higher density, purpose-built student housing in a commercial zone,” Strong said. Clement agrees, stating that more congregate living situations might be more appealing to students and free up units for families.
In a note to The Cowl, Carl Austin Miller Grondin, Mayor Smiley’s press secretary, wrote, “the City’s approach is to increase the overall housing supply, encourage purpose-built student housing in appropriate locations, and encourage colleges to add additional on-campus housing.” As the Smiley administration holds its last months in office, future housing policies are left to its successor and City Council.
The Council is already considering one potential change around Providence College. In July, the City Plan Commission voted 4-1 in favor of a student housing overlay, a proposed zoning district that would allow a high concentration of student renters. The proposal is now in front of the Council as it decides next steps and legislative votes.
The debate over the overlay reflects a larger question facing Providence: whether the city’s housing growth will create more stock for everyone, or whether students and families will continue sharing a housing stock.
Proposed Development Around Providence College from the Student Housing Presentation (City of Providence)
Leave a Reply