Vision for Station District emerges

VIBRANT COMMUNITY: The target mix of uses in the planned Station District in Warwick is 20-40 percent office space, 10-35 percent hotel, 10-20 percent retail entertainment and 30-45 percent residential. / COURTESY GOOD CLANCY
VIBRANT COMMUNITY: The target mix of uses in the planned Station District in Warwick is 20-40 percent office space, 10-35 percent hotel, 10-20 percent retail entertainment and 30-45 percent residential. / COURTESY GOOD CLANCY

The case for growing T.F. Green Airport to make it an economic engine driving business activity in Warwick and the rest of the state is well-known.
But what if expansion could work the other way around, with development in and around the airport making T.F. Green a more attractive place to fly and Rhode Island a more frequent destination?
That’s what local and state leaders are betting on with recently approved plans to develop the land between the airport and the year-old Interlink train station into a new neighborhood of offices, apartments, shops and restaurants.
The product of years of planning and study, Warwick’s Station District was introduced to the rest of the state shortly after the new year when Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee announced a partnership with the city and Central Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce to market the area.
“This area has huge potential,” said Lauren Slocum, president and CEO of the Warwick-based Central Rhode Island Chamber. “It will blend residential with commercial. It will enable individuals not only in the area, but those coming in, to have a central location to conduct business. What they are talking about for types of use, developers have expressed an interest in.”
The potential Slocum and others see in the Station District is an expanded corporate presence bolstered by a network of hotels, conference centers and restaurants that would allow business to be conducted within walking distance of the airport terminal.
“The mixed-use development in this area should support itself – I don’t think it is contingent on expanding the airport,” Slocum said. “I think one will complement the other.”
Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian said the growth dynamic between the airport and the city works “in both directions” and development near the airport could spur traffic at the airport.
“We know that the easiest way to grow passengers at T.F. Green would be to have a new airline to start service,” Avedisian said. “However, the more that we build the infrastructure around there, the more people see it being advantageous in both directions, so that you see more people flying there because there are more conference centers, hotels, et cetera. I know some people who fly into the Chicago airport for business and never go anywhere else.”
On the state level, the partnership to promote the Warwick Station District will be led by the R.I. Economic Development Corporation, which is also actively marketing the state and the Providence Knowledge District. Unlike the partnership between the EDC and Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, however, the Warwick Station District campaign will use federal money instead of local dollars.
EDC Executive Director Keith W. Stokes said promoting the Station District would go beyond advertising to include reaching out to private-sector business interests and decision-makers to familiarize them with the area.
“We can’t take for granted that everyone in the marketplace to relocate knows the value of the Warwick Station District,” Stokes said. “We have to go out into the market and bring them in and show them our airport system is one of the finest in the nation.
“Rhode Island is a regional marketplace and T.F. Green is right in the center of New England. If you need to relocate, we can make a case that being in Warwick is pretty compelling,” he said.
Last summer, the state received a $900,000 federal grant to help pay for infrastructure improvements in the Station District and this year is applying for $350,000 to kick off the marketing effort.
The Station District imagined by planners and approved by the Warwick City Council in January is a 1.5 million-square-foot “urban village” covering an area of 95 acres on either side of the elevated walkway from the airport to the Interlink station.
Like other “transit-oriented developments,” the Station District concept is for pedestrian-friendly design and activity nearly around the clock with residents, workers and travelers supporting the retail businesses.
The target mix of uses in the master plan is 20-40 percent office space, 10-35 percent hotel, 10-20 percent retail/entertainment and 30-45 percent residential. Commercial buildings would be between two to five stories tall while the residential buildings would be between five and six stories tall.
In addition to the area already in the district, planners have recommended in the future adding as much as 2 million additional square feet of space on the west side of the train tracks that includes the Jefferson Boulevard property owned by Michael D’Ambra and the Leviton property.
To attract developers to the area, Warwick has streamlined permitting for construction in the district so that projects that fit the specifications in the master plan can be built right after review by the Planning Board. “We streamlined the process so that if you are a developer you know it’s going to take a certain amount of time from start to finish,” said Warwick Planning Director William DePasquale of the new district approval process.
The concept behind transit-oriented developments like the Station District have been around for a while and areas around the country have had mixed success with them.
Warwick’s plan is somewhat unique in being built around both an airport and a train station.
Another aspect of the Station District that makes it different from other projects is that the land included within the master plan area belongs to 40 different property owners.
DePasquale said he believes a piece-by-piece approach will work in Warwick and the city does not need a single, all-powerful developer to build the area out.
“Some people have said you have to put the properties together, but I don’t think so,” DePasquale said. “Some of these are prime parcels. Maybe one or two owners get together and develop them. We had some developers come in and say they were not intimidated with multiple owners.”
Warwick Station also differs from other large Rhode Island development plans, such as the Providence Knowledge District and Quonset in North Kingstown, in that the local planning board – rather than an independent authority – is responsible for managing growth.
Right now the real estate market and economic climate make it difficult to imagine any new large, mixed-use projects being built, let alone 1.5 million square feet.
But Warwick officials are looking at the Station as a long-term prospect for growth and are not counting on progress overnight.
While the Station District could be created without new traffic at the airport, state and local officials for the past year have been working to lure airline JetBlue to start flying into T.F. Green.
If both new airline traffic and new construction in the Station District happen at the same time, the attractiveness of Warwick for business could really gain momentum, officials said.
“I am optimistic that this spring there will not only be an announcement about changes for the airport, but also a new development at the Station District,” Avedisian said. •

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