|
|
4.6.2001 00:05
A changing city: projects in the works
Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr. and his top aides have aggressively courted developers in recent years. The hype over the Providence renaissance notwithstanding, key parcels of land in Capital Center remain untouched, and the heart of downtown still awaits revival.
Whether and how Cianci's idictment will affect continued development in the city remains to be seen. But more than $385 million in proposed residential, retail, office, and entertainment projects hangs in the balance.
Those projects include:
 Eastman Pierce, a Connecticut-based developer, has proposed a condo, office, and retail project for a site adjacent to Waterplace Park. The $150-million project would include a Hilton hotel of 200 to 225 rooms, 100,000 square feet of offices, ground-floor retail space, and about 150 condominiums. The condos would sell for between $300 to $500 per square foot.
Goldfarb Properties, of New Rochelle, N.Y., has proposed a $100-million hotel, office, and residential project that would incorporate the Masonic Temple, across the street from the State House. The project would include about 150 apartments on a lot where the Rhode Island State Employees Credit Union is located. The temple would be converted to offices, and a luxury hotel would be built across from the temple on the Avenue of the Arts.
Forest City Ratner Companies and Starwood, Wasserman LLC, of Providence, plan to build an office-and-retail building on a one-acre site overlooking Waterplace Park, at the northeast corner of Francis Street and Memorial Boulevard. The $65-million to $70-million project would have 10 levels: an underground parking garage, two floors of retail space, another parking area, and six floors of office space.
JPI, a Texas devlopment firm, plans to build a $60-million complex between Harris Avenue and Providence Place mall, with 325 apartments, ranging in rent from $1,140 to $2,600 a month. The project would include a pool, a clubhouse, a fitness center, a movie-screening room, and a 450-car garage.
Paolino Properties, of Providence, has proposed a $60-million hotel-condominium project on a parcel of land near the downtown post office. The 12-story building would include 28 luxury condominiums, an underground parking garage, and a penthouse health club.
Beacon Companies, of Boston, has proposed a $35-million project in Capital Center, at the intersection of Canal Street and Park Row West. The project would include 180 apartments, a health club, a communal living room, and a detached parking garage. Rents would begin at about $2,000 monthly and would peak at about $3,500.
Stanley Weiss, of Providence, hopes to begin construction on a hotel at Westminster and Matthewson Streets that would have 100 rooms.
Providence-based developer Arnold "Buff" Chace Jr. has begun work converting the Alice Building at Westminster and Union Streets into 37 apartments, at a cost of more than $8 million. He is to begin work soon on converting the O'Gorman Building and the adjacent Burgess Building, at 222 Westminster St., and the Burgess Heirs Building, at 93 Eddy St. into apartment spaces. Chace hopes to complete the conversions by late fall.
Trinity Repertory Theater plans a $4.4-million transformation of a former bank on Empire Street into additional theater space to be used by Trinity and other local theater groups.
The Armory Revival Company has begun a project that will include five condominiums at the corner of Thomas and North Main Streets above a ground-floor commercial space. The condominiums will range in price from $340,000 to more than $1 million. Total project cost: $3.4 million to $4 million.
-- D. Morgan McVicar
Digital extra:
Find out more about Providence's resurgence with a collection of stories, links and audio clips at:
http://projo.com/aboutprovidence/boomtown/
|
|
|
Printer-Friendly Version
