Candidates weigh in on The Link

It’s a moment Providence, the state and especially the seven members of the Interstate 195 Redevelopment District Commission have been waiting for.
After two-and-a-half years planning, permitting, hiring and marketing, the panel appointed to rebuild 27 acres of publicly owned downtown parkland and real estate finally has concrete offers in hand.
On May 19 the commission plans to reveal exactly how many offers, and for how many square feet of new housing, stores or office space those offers represent, even if more precise details will have to wait a little longer.
Although the process of building out the 17 parcels known as The Link is expected to take many years to complete, the commission has made clear its desire to attract as much interest from as many different organizations in as many different places as possible. It was that goal of drawing the widest possible range of proposals that prompted the panel to adopt a since-revised bid-confidentiality policy.
A strong set of proposals would show that the commission’s pitch of location, site preparation and pre-permitting has created demand in Link parcels that doesn’t exist for the many vacant lots elsewhere in the city.
Attracting bids from outside the Ocean State would also show the marketing campaign, led by Chicago-based broker Jones Lang LaSalle, has been effective.
And that could help build confidence in the current process among state leaders ultimately responsible for the former highway land, both those now in office and those looking to take over after the upcoming November elections.
Next January, the commission will have a new mayor to work with on Link infrastructure and for chosen developers to negotiate with over property taxes.
Commissioners also could have new lawmakers voting on their annual budget and the scope of the panel’s authority.
But the next governor, with the power to appoint commissioners, will likely have the most direct impact on the commission.
This spring, candidates from each party have weighed in with criticism of the way the highway land has been handled.
Responding to reports of low turnout at recent Link information sessions, Republican Ken Block suggested putting the entire process on hold until the market strengthens or new leadership can improve the business climate enough to spur demand. “We have seen relatively low levels of interest in the land and increasing discussion of residential development, which would represent a tremendous underutilization of this excellent asset,” Block said in an email. “We must create new jobs on the I-195 land and in order to do so, we should hold off on signing any agreements until the next governor and next mayor of Providence have had the opportunity to market the land to businesses.”
Block’s prescription for The Link, as well as the Industrial Trust building and much of downtown Providence, is a special tax zone in the area where companies would pay a 2 percent state corporate tax rate instead of 9 percent. (The plan would require the city to make unspecified property tax cuts in exchange for the state incentive.)
On the Democratic side, current General Treasurer Gina M. Raimondo has questioned whether the all-volunteer commission, now supplemented with a full-time executive director and contractors, was given the proper policy direction from elected leaders.
“We have had the I-195 land available for years and still no [city or state] leader has articulated a vision for what we can do with that land to reshape our economy and put people to work,” Raimondo said in a recent interview on her economic plan. “Let’s think big on what is the best use to get people back to work. The commission is trying its best, but has very little leadership from the top.”
Raimondo’s big idea for The Link is to locate a manufacturing applied sciences institute on one or several of available parcels that would combine academic and industry knowledge to bring factory jobs back.
Asked about Raimondo’s manufacturing-institute idea at a recent meeting, 195 Commission Chairman Colin Kane said only that “all ideas are welcome.”
Raimondo’s criticism of the process to date is targeted at Providence Mayor Angel Taveras, who has played a relatively low-key role in The Link process.
But this month Taveras, another Democratic challenger for governor, has shown he is paying attention to The Link and isn’t afraid to get involved.
After the commission voted to keep all nonwinning bids confidential, Taveras wrote a letter warning against being unnecessarily secretive.
“Keeping citizens in the dark as the commission moves through the process is misguided,” Taveras wrote. “At a minimum, I would urge you to follow the example of other state agencies … which maintain confidentiality while negotiations are ongoing but make information public once a deal is made.” Three days after the letter was written, the commission reversed its policy and said all bids, including those not selected, would be made public after a final decision on them has been made.
A Taveras spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the overall direction of the commission.
Democrat Clay Pell has been the most positive of the gubernatorial candidates about the current process.
“The state and the 195 Redevelopment Commission have done an excellent job in preparing this property for immediate construction,” Pell said in an email statement. “I support the ongoing work of the 195 Redevelopment Commission and applaud their decision … to improve the transparency of the development proposal process.”
Cranston Mayor and Republican gubernatorial candidate Allan Fung supports the 195 Commission structure, but wants to make sure the proposals with the most economic value are chosen, not the ideas that conform to political preferences of what should go there, including Raimondo’s proposed manufacturing institute, said spokesman Robert Coupe.
“The commission should allow the market to dictate based on what is going to bring in the most dollars for the long term,” Coupe said. “They should not have a predetermined idea of what development it should be; that’s government picking winners and losers.”
In front of this political backdrop, the commission will release a summary of the May 1 offers made on Link parcels at its May 19 meeting. This “abstract” will include the aggregate amount of residential and commercial space proposed, but not identify applicants or individual parcels. The next proposal deadline is Aug. 1.
At the end of April, 195 Commission Executive Director Jan Brodie said she expected anywhere from four to 12 proposals from the May 1 application round.
A day after the deadline passed, Link spokeswoman Dyana Koelsch said only that the commission had received multiple submissions.
“We were encouraged by the response,” Koelsch said. At least two Rhode Island developers who had expressed interest in the Link previously have confirmed that they made formal proposals by May 1.
Johnston-based Carpionato Group has followed through on a proposal floated last year to build a mixed-use complex with underground parking on five parcels east of the Providence River, said company spokesman Gregg Perry.
Now named “The Connection at College Hill,” the Carpionato project would take up 5.88 acres of the total 19 acres in the Link and include office, laboratory, stores, restaurants, apartments and a hotel, Perry said. A shop-filled bridge modeled after the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, Italy, would cross Wickenden Street.
“It’s a real multiuse center which can provide connection between College Hill, the East Side, the Knowledge District and downtown,” Perry said.
Carpionato was expected to compete with developer Churchill and Banks for rights to the Fox Point section of The Link, but the Providence firm has not submitted a bid.
Churchill & Banks Vice President of Development Richard Baccari II has, however, personally submitted a proposal for “one or more parcels” of the former highway land with an independent, non-Churchill and Banks partnership called Royal Oaks Realty LLC, he said last week.
Not wanting to pre-empt the commission, Baccari would only say of the Royal Oaks proposal that it is a “whole new concept” from what had been discussed on Link land abutting Churchill & Banks’ Esplanade at India Point project on Pike Street.
On how much competition Royal Oaks may face for Link properties from outside developers, Baccari said he thinks the unique and lengthy upfront work required by the 195 Commission to submit an application may scare some firms away.
Unlike in a traditional real estate transaction, where sales price is the primary negotiating point, the commission’s multicriteria system requires applicants to spell out things like a site plan, design rendering, sustainability plan, the number of people it would serve, jobs created and subsidy required, all before gaining any stake in the land.
“Usually if I am a developer, all I am negotiating is the price,” Baccari said. “The pre-permitting they have done is important beyond this point, but if you have to commit resources just to apply, that might scare some people away.” •

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