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The Rhode Island Department of Housing will begin seeking the Department of Administration’s approval before hiring subcontractors rather than funneling them through a Providence law firm, the Providence Journal has reported.
The announcement comes after the Journal reported that now-former Housing Secretary Stefan Pryor had used Savage Law Partners to “leapfrog” some of the state’s requirements for hiring contractors “in his zeal to quickly address Rhode Island’s housing availability crisis.”
Now-former Housing Secretary Stefan Pryor (AP Photo/Jessica Hill, File)
The subcontractors, which included Sage Environmental Inc., the Peregrine Group and Jones Lang LaSalle, were used to scope out sites, including the state’s $6 million purchase of the former Charlesgate Nursing Center in Providence for use as a shelter and, eventually, affordable housing.
The services of Jones Lang LaSalle were also retained to assist with “due diligence” on 111 Westminster St., Providence, a.k.a. the “Superman building,” where a project to convert vacant commercial buildings into apartments is being eyed.
According to an unsigned memo obtained by the Journal, Jones Lang LaSalle had charged a fee lower than Savage Law Partners’ agreed-to hourly rate, “which, in turn, reduced costs to the state.”
Pryor announced in late June that he would be leaving his position as housing secretary to take an unspecified job in the private sector.