‘Cranes in the sky’ in 2016?

Providence Mayor Jorge O. Elorza earlier this month said 2016 would yield the busiest construction season seen in decades and people could again expect to see “cranes in the sky and workers on the job.”

There may be more hope than certainty in the first-term mayor’s estimate that “30 major construction projects, worth almost half a billion dollars,” will break ground this year. Some of the projects are still working out funding options, while others have yet to complete the city review process.

Nonetheless, the idea that so many construction projects are in the pipeline is an exciting prospect for developers in a city where major projects are scant.

“It’s pretty accurate,” said Arnold “Buff” Chace, managing partner at Cornish Associates LP in Providence, when asked about the list.

- Advertisement -

“It’s possible they could get started on these projects, [but] it’s very hard to tell in a city and a state where not much development has occurred in so many years,” he added.

The city’s estimates first came up during the mayor’s inaugural State of the City Address. The city later provided Providence Business News with a list of the projects, which on paper actually surpass Elorza’s estimates, comprising 32 projects totaling $704.4 million.

The listed projects made the cut because they’re currently in a review process, meaning either being considered by a committee, board or department, and are expected to have shovels in the ground before the year is out, according to Elorza spokesman Evan England.

The list comprises big-name development projects, including $92 million of the projected $220 million South Street Landing project, and $200 million of the CV Properties LLC and Wexford Science & Technology LLC 1.1 million-square-foot bioscience center, which is expected to exceed $250 million in its first phase.

But there are holes in the list, including Wexford, which by its own admission, project construction won’t start until 2017, according to its purchase agreement with the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission.

The city last week couldn’t immediately produce a comparable list of construction projects for 2015.

Many of the projects on this year’s list have nonprofit tax-exempt status, but England says they will still add construction jobs and bring employment once completed.

“This is as much about a meta-economic resurgence as it is about getting [more money] on the tax rolls,” England said.

Chace is just happy to see so many projects in the works.

“The projects that are being discussed could transform Providence, and I think that’s what the mayor is talking about,” Chace said. •

No posts to display