I-195 commission extends time for developer to make deal with city

THE I-195 REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMISSION has given Dallas-based Friendship & Clifford LLC one more month to come to a tax incentive agreement with Providence for its proposed six-floor student apartment building. At that point, the developer may back out of the deal. The 1.25-acre site is known as Parcel 28. / COURTESY I-195 REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMISSION
THE I-195 REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMISSION has given Dallas-based Friendship & Clifford LLC one more month to come to a tax incentive agreement with Providence for its proposed six-floor student apartment building. At that point, the developer may back out of the deal. The 1.25-acre site is known as Parcel 28. / COURTESY I-195 REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT COMMISSION

PROVIDENCE — A company that has proposed a $50 million student apartment building on the first parcel under contract in the former Interstate 195 lands has received a one-month extension to secure an agreement for tax incentives with the city.
The request made by Dallas-based Phoenix Property Co. and Lincoln Property, and approved unanimously by the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission Monday, allows the company to end its purchase of the 1.25-acre site if it does not finalize a tax stabilization agreement with the city by April 1.
The commission’s executive director, Jan Brodie, told commissioners Monday that the company already has invested a significant amount of money in the project, and does not want to proceed further until it has negotiated a mutually agreeable arrangement for tax incentives. After the meeting, Brodie said she understood the company is having ongoing discussions with city officials about an agreement.
When asked by a reporter if she was worried the district might lose the development, Brodie responded: “I am confident the city is going to come through. I don’t think anyone wants to lose them.”
Brodie said tax stabilization agreements are particularly beneficial for lands that have not been developed, as is the case with the I-195 district, because the property is not yet generating taxes on buildings. The agreements are necessary, she said, because there is a gap between the expense of developing a commercial site in Providence and the income that can be obtained through tenant rents.
“There is a huge feasibility gap,” she said.
The project would place a six-story, 500-bed student apartment building on a 1.25-acre site between Clifford, Friendship, Chestnut and Richmond streets. The land is known as Parcel 28 among the properties being marketed by the I-195 commission. The area is being called “The Link” and includes a total of 14 acres of developable land in Providence, property that used to be covered by the highway before it was relocated.
The vote taken by the commission Monday also extends the due diligence period for the purchase and sale of the property until April 1. The purchase and sale agreement signed by the company in November originally set that deadline as Feb. 18.

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