The cost to repair, renovate or rehab the Belton Court mansion on the former Zion Bible College property is in the tens of millions of dollars.

And that price, said Barrington Town Manager Phil Hervey, could factor into whether the building is included in future plans to develop the 39.5-acre property in Barrington. 

Hervey said the town has been discussing the plan for the vacant property with its owners, and recently asked for a report on the financial viability of renovating and repurposing the historic building. 

The owners’ response, Hervey said, raised some concerns.

“They said tens of millions of dollars,” Hervey said. “So we’re going to review that.”

Belton Court mansion, like the rest of the former Zion Bible College property, has sat vacant for years. A group of people representing a company called Shineharmony Holdings, LLC purchased the one-time college campus for $3.5 million at an auction in Oct. 2011. 

There was initially talk about turning the property into a private international school, but that never materialized. There was also a plan to transform the property into a continuing care senior housing development; town officials have zoned the property “Senior Residential Village.” 

More recently, the owners presented an ‘updated plan concept” to town officials — the proposal calls for 403 dwelling units, but only 65 of those units would be dedicated to senior housing. The rest would be apartments, townhouses and duplex condominiums open to all ages. 

The architect for the project, Kyle Xue of Massachusetts-based Up Design and Build, indicated previously that Belton Court would be converted into a hotel, but the attorney for ShineHarmony, William Landry, said more recently that was not part of the plan. 

The report shared with town officials casts a shadow of doubt about whether the project could move forward including the renovation of Belton Court, as the price tag would pose a challenge to the financial feasibility of the overall development. 

Hervey said the price for renovating Belton Court would have been pricy regardless of the condition of the building, but was likely made more costly because the building sat vacant and unsecured for years. The mansion has been victimized countless times by trespassers and vandals — most, if not all of the windows have been broken, and since boarded up. Officials have previously reported water damage throughout the structure.

“They should have secured the building, obviously. They allowed it to deteriorate, exposed to the elements, and all the damage from all the trespassing, that’s on them,” Hervey said. “With or without that, it’s still going to be extremely challenging.”

Hervey said the existing master plan approval for the Zion property is set to expire this month, although the developers would likely need to submit a new master plan application for the updated proposal, as it veers widely from the initially-approved plan. 

“It’s a whole new plan,” Hervey said. “Honestly, what they ended up talking about, that’s a whole new plan.”

The updated proposal appears to be inconsistent with the current zoning, Hervey said. He added that the developer would likely need to have the zoning amended for the new proposal. 

“We’ve sat down, we’ve walked them through the process,” Hervey said. “They know what the road ahead is for them if they do certain things. They’re aware.”

When asked if 55-plus senior housing was still a good fit and the best use for the former Zion Bible College property, Hervey said “It’s still relevant, for sure.”

The town manager added that a recently-completed market study for the Carmelite Monastery property revealed that there is a gap in the housing market — the missing middle between affordable housing and market rate housing. 

“It’s got to be the right balance,” Hervey said. “There is a lot of potential (at Zion).”

Belton Court history

Belton Court is an historic estate that was built in the early 1900s as the country home for Frederick Stanhope Peck, who was a noteworthy figure in Rhode Island politics at that time. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976; it is one of a handful of Barrington properties to be earn the distinction.

Belton Court and the surrounding buildings had been home to Barrington College and more recently Zion Bible College. When the college relocated to Haverhill, Mass., the property went up for sale.