Providence culinary incubator project receives tax credits

A REHABILITATION PROJECT INVOLVING the former Mechanical Fabric Company mill in Providence's West End has been granted $525,000 in historic preservation tax credits by the state as part of its plans to create live-work space for culinary entrepreneurs. / PBN FILE PHOTO/MARY MACDONALD
A REHABILITATION PROJECT INVOLVING the former Mechanical Fabric Company mill in Providence's West End has been granted $525,000 in historic preservation tax credits by the state as part of its plans to create live-work space for culinary entrepreneurs. / PBN FILE PHOTO/MARY MACDONALD

PROVIDENCE – A vacant mill in the West End that will be renovated into live-work space for culinary entrepreneurs will receive state historical preservation tax credits when completed, the R.I. Department of Revenue announced Thursday.

The former Mechanical Fabric Company mill, at 55 Cromwell St., originally consisted of six buildings and manufactured rubber products. Three of the buildings remain, including the main structure, which dates to the 1890s.

The four-story brick building, the former boiler house and a storage building will be converted to residential and commercial space. The owner, New York-based Knight & Swan LLC, has proposed a live-work combination that would create an 11,000-square-foot culinary incubator, including shared office space and a kitchen for entrepreneurs, as well as 40 rental units.

The Rhode Island historic preservation tax credits, available on completion, are worth $525,000. The project has also received a $7.2 million construction loan from Citizens Bank, and a tax stabilization agreement from the city of Providence.

- Advertisement -

The project, called “Room & Works,” will be geared to young professions and recent graduates. In a timeline submitted with the tax credit application, the owner indicated the project would be completed by December 2016.

No posts to display