Convert commercial into residential in Pawtucket?

Question

Looking at a building in Pawtucket that is currently commercial first floor with 2 one bedroom units on the second floor. The commercial space is vacant, and I don't have a ton of faith in small businesses as long as this COVID thing drags on. COVID took out the previous commercial tenant (also happens to be the owner). My question is what is the likelihood that I can convert the first floor into 2 units? Any opinions on whether or not the city would approve it? Also any general idea on rehab costs to add 2 kitchens and 2 bathrooms (all lower end finishes for a class C type of property)?

Anthony Thompson · Answer

@John Joyce did you try asking the city’s building department about it? If so, what did they say?

Generally I would assume you won’t be able to change the use unless they give you some kind of indication that they’d lean toward approving it, even if it’s just an unofficial conversation.

A lot depends on the zone and what’s around it, and even the history of the building (e.g., if the first floor used to be residential it might be easier to go “back”).

Parking also frequently comes into play as the assumptions/requirements for store/office parking are usually a bit easier than for residential (depending on the nature of the business).

You might be safer to assume you can put one big unit there rather than two smaller units, for purposes of your analysis.

For cost, it really depends on what’s there (how much has to be removed before you can start building up). But for one big unit I’m guesstimating not less than 20k, probably 30+.

I’d strongly recommend going through with a couple of contractors who you might actually give the job to, and then throwing another 10-15% on top of the higher bid, for the purposes of calculating an offer. This isn’t the kind of project where you want to go with guesstimates from the Internet 😉

John Joyce · Answer

Seller's agent suggested converting it, but had not asked the city. He mentioned that the city is looking for more housing, which makes me wonder if there is a trend right now of converting commercial to residential in the area? I am definitely not blindly taking his word for it and I'll make some calls to the building department before I walk through with a contractor. My uneducated guesstimate was about $50k for a 2/1 and a 1/1 on the first floor. I also plan on touring it with a property manager, so I will have much better numbers before I make an offer. The building does have plenty of parking (about 20 spaces) and a 2-car garage. It is zoned for Commercial General but it looks like a SFH, so it may have been in the past. I have always been under the impression that it is easier to go from commercial to residential, rather than the other way around. But that's also just my experience in my town, and I know nothing about Pawtucket (or Rhode Island) norms.