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Developers to introduce film studio plan

01:00 AM EST on Tuesday, March 4, 2008

By Maria Armental

Journal Staff Writer

HOPKINTON — A month after announcing a plan that calls for a hotel, office space and the state’s first film studio, in Hopkinton near Exit 2 on Route 95, the developers — Hal Katersky of Pacifica Ventures in Santa Monica, Calif., along with Ralph Palumbo and Anthony DelVicario of Halden Acquisition Group in Providence — will present the project to residents tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the Wood River Golf Club.

(The town Planning Board also meets at 7 p.m. in Town Hall.)

Letters have been mailed to residents within a 500-foot radius to notify them of the meeting on the development proposal. Town officials and Rep. Brian Patrick Kennedy, who lives in town, have also been alerted to the meeting.

As originally presented, the studio complex, to be known as Rhode Island Studios, would include eight sound stages totaling 155,000 to 225,000 square feet, about 75,000 square feet of production offices adjacent to the sound stages, 10,000 square feet of executive offices, about 75,000 square feet of mill and welding space for set and sound-stage creation, a back-lot area for outdoor sets, trailers and parking, and additional buildings for cafeterias and storage.

No plans have been filed yet.

Palumbo said the group has a “considerable” amount of work to do with regard to engineering and site layout before filing any plans.

A state tax credit for “costs associated with construction” — roughly $15 million of the estimated $75-million construction cost of the film studio — would be needed to move forward, Katersky said.

A bill that would create a 20-percent transferable tax credit for the construction of motion picture studios has been introduced in the House and referred to the House Finance Committee.

Katersky said he also intends to apply for tax increment financing in Hopkinton.

Under the town’s current tax stabilization policy, the project would be eligible for a five-year phase-in of property taxes.

The development could also tap into the state’s 25-percent film production credit.

An outreach campaign started last week, when the developers met with board members of the two condominium associations — Lindhbrook Green Condo and North Gardens at Lindhbrook — as well as town officials, including the town manager, planner, police and fire chiefs, and the emergency management director.

Tomorrow, residents will review the project along with a concept map — which has been slightly tweaked since the Feb. 7 news conference at the State House.

Feedback from the public will be incorporated into the plans, said Frank McMahon, president of Providence-based Advocacy Solutions, the project’s chief lobbyist.

marmenta@projo.com

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