If all goes according to plan, Warwick will have one fewer hotel and about nine months later an additional 150 apartments.

David Mitchell, a partner in the private firm of Landing Partners, LLC of New York City says this is a “perfect storm” for “workforce housing” as older hotels and senior housing projects become candidates to be transitioned into apartments. Landing Partners is currently in the process of developing 2,300 units of housing, and has contracts for 5,000 units with the aim of 50,000 units nationwide, Mitchell said.

What was built in 1972 as the Sheraton at 1850 Post Road and was last operated as a 207 hotel under the Windham banner, would become Landing Partners’ first Rhode Island project.

As Mitchell puts it, the concrete and steel structure would become a “turbo-charged” apartment building offering 150 studio and one-bedroom apartments of 350 to 700 square feet plus a range of amenities to tenants. The plan is to retain the hotel pool and fitness room as well as have outdoor barbecue areas and meeting rooms. Rents, he said, would be in the range of $800 to $1,000 a month, which are below the average for single bedroom apartments today.

Mitchell says the hotel is ideally located for workforce housing in the center of the state with easy access to the interstate and a bus stop in front of the building. It is also a short walk from the airport and MBTA rail service at the interlink.

On average, Mitchell said tenants they are targeting spend 14 percent of their income on commuting to and from work. The proximity to work and modes of transportation would conceivably reduce those costs. He sees the project is being “where the jobs are and where housing is needed.”

Mitchell said the city has been wonderful to work with. Residential use of the property is permitted by right as it is located in the City Centre Gateway Zoning District. Last month the Warwick Zoning Board granted Landing Partners a dimensional variance to convert the hotel into dwelling units with less than required parking and less than required driveway travel width.

An assessment by Beta Engineering found the site access and circulation plan could maintain a desirable level of traffic safety and circulation, would generate fewer trips than a hotel and would not negatively affect acceptable operating conditions.

The review conducted by the city Planning Department found that “granting of the request will not alter the general character of the surrounding area or impair the intent of the zoning ordinance or the Comprehensive Plan of the city.”

Mitchell said sale of the property owned by Shiva LLC hinges on issuance of a building permit. The sale price of the hotel was not disclosed however Mitchell projected the overall project to be in the range of $15 million.

Seth Golbitz, commercial plan reviewer for the city, said Wednesday he started the plan review about three weeks ago and he expects to be completed by the end of the year. He couldn’t say when fire department review of the plans would be completed but that that would need to happen for issuance of a building permit.

Mitchell said conversion of the hotel into apartments would start soon after the sale is consummated. BP Architects of New York City are the architects for the project.

“We’re in this business to build, not wait,” he said.

With its transition to apartments, Warwick will be left with one less hotel. That’s not projected to last all that long as the city gave master plan approval of a Woodspring Suites 122-room hotel not all that far away on the site of the Great House restaurant on Post Road next to Chelo’s.