At times, it seems like the only changes to Providence’s skyline are the moving cranes and wrecking balls. But developers of some of the city’s larger projects say that progress is being made, and some landmark investments in the city are slated to come online relatively soon.
Providence Business News checked in with some of the area’s major developers to find out how their initiatives are going:
Condominiums
Ralph Izzi, spokesman for Cranston-based The Procaccianti Group, said last week that the $80 million, 32-story addition to The Westin Providence has reached its full height, and the 103 condominiums in The Residences at the Westin Providence should be ready for move-in by Thanksgiving.
Nick Iselin, director of development and construction for Boston-based Intercontinental Realty, said this month that Waterplace Condominiums – the $100 million project overlooking Waterplace Park that will include 193 condominiums in two towers – is slated to be completed in 2008. Already, it has been topped off, window systems are in place and the bulk of the interior mechanical work has been completed.
By next month, the work around Waterplace Park will be finished allowing the public to circulate around the site during WaterFire events.
Iselin also said that Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island will begin work on its new headquarters, located on the site, sometime in 2008.
“It’s an immensely complex project,” Iselin said. “There are a lot of moving parts, and we’re doing a pretty good job of keeping them under control.”
While one of the grander condominium plans for the city, One Ten Westminster, was announced before several projects that are currently under way, construction at the site has yet to begin. However, the high-rise project will move forward, said Eamon O’Marah of lead developer Blue Chip Properties.
The developers announced in January that 60 of the planned 130 condos would be replaced by a hotel. And while O’Marah said that the developers are currently in the final stages of budgeting for the project, no firm date has been set for the start of construction.
In recent months, another major condominium proposal in Providence has sprung up above downtown. Vista Della Torre is an $80 million, 33-story project at the intersection of Bradford and Federal streets on Federal Hill proposed by Frank and Michael Zammiello, a local father-and-son development team.
The 330-foot building, designed by Newport Collaborative Architects, would contain up to 180 condominium apartments. However, the project is still seeking approvals from the city, and no firm date has been set for construction.
Hotels
The city saw one of the state historic tax credit’s biggest success stories completed in June when the $80 million Renaissance Providence Hotel opened. The project restored the vacant Masonic Temple for use as a 272-room Marriott Renaissance hotel.
Several other projects slated to come online will also go a long way to meet that demand as well. Procaccianti’s Izzi said that the bottom floors of the new Westin tower, containing 200 hotel rooms, will be open by next month, bringing the total room count to more than 500.
Procaccianti also recently completed the re-branding of the Holiday Inn, transforming it into the Hilton Providence.
Dennis Miekleham, senior vice president of development for Kansas-based Lodgeworks, said that the 161-room Sierra Suites should begin construction in the fall. The extended-stay hotel, which will include a parking garage, will be built at the site of a historic building on Washington Street that is slated to be demolished.
In June, First Bristol Corp. and Granoff Associates announced plans to re-develop the former St. Francis chapel on Weybosset St. into a 115-room Hampton Inn & Suites hotel to the tune of $17 million.
“Combined with the growth of the colleges and influx of students … we believe there will be a critical mass of demand to support a wide array of businesses,” said Evan Granoff at a press conference announcing the project last month.
Several other hotel projects are slated for Providence. However, the developers of proposals did not return phone calls from PBN. They are:
• The Intercontinental Hotel, proposed by Carpionato Properties, which is slated to include an 18-story hotel tower containing 200 rooms and a restaurant with a 120-car parking garage in a triangle of land between Memorial Boulevard, and Exchange and Steeple streets.
• According to Stacey Kennedy, director of media relations for the Wyndham Hotel Group, a 172-room Wyndham Garden Hotel is scheduled to break ground on Charles Street next spring, with a scheduled opening a year later.
Historical renovations
While Baltimore-based Struever Bros., Eccles & Rouse has not announced any new plans for 2007, the company’s Rhode Island-area manager said the developer is making progress on several of its larger projects.
John D. Sinnott, managing director of Providence operations, said this month that phase one of three at the American Locomotive Works project – the largest capital investment in the city since the construction of Providence Place mall – is nearing completion. It includes office space and the new home of the R.I. Economic Development Corporation, and is currently undergoing tenant “fit-out,” Sinnott said.
Financing for the second phase, which is to include commercial space and work force housing in three buildings, is nearing completion.
The company’s renovation of the commercial/residential use Calendar Mills – located at 50 Valley St. near Struever’s collaboration with Puente, The Plant – is currently undergoing site work, he said.
While primarily conducting its work in projects outside of Providence, Urban Smart Growth is preparing to begin work on the Former U.S. Rubber Co. mill complex, said Ron Wierks, director of the company’s East Coast bureau.
It will be purely residential, with 156 apartment lofts, as opposed to the company’s other projects, such as Pawtucket’s Hope Artiste Village, which is a vast, mixed-use re-development.
“We have decided to stick primarily to the housing piece of it,” Wierks said, adding that the company was attracted to the project because of the work companies like Struever are doing to redevelop the city’s West End.
Miscellaneous
Procaccianti’s Izzi said that the company is moving forward on two other projects in the so-called “power block,” the area that includes the company’s Westin and Hilton.
The John E. Fogarty Memorial building, located at 111 Fountain St., was recently granted preliminary approval for demolition. It is slated to be replaced by 9-story parking garage with a retail component on the ground floor.
Izzi also said that the project slated for La Salle Square in the former city public safety complex will move forward. However, he declined to say if the scope of the project had changed since the company first announced that a $200 million office building would be located at the site.
Instead, he said there are a “number of necessary steps that need to take place.” •
