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Plan seen as ‘most profitable’ approach
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A partner in the team developing the One Ten Luxury Residences says the project has changed scope, with hotel space replacing almost half of the condominiums previously planned for the building.
Evan Granoff, a partner in Providence-based Granoff Associates, which is developing the Westminster Street high-rise together with Blue Chip Properties and O’Connor Capital Partners, said the project will now include only 70 luxury condominium units, instead of the 130 formerly planned. The remaining space will be used for a hotel.
“It seemed like it would be a better way to do the deal,” Granoff said. “It’s based on an analysis of what would be the most profitable building to build.”
Although Granoff said this decision was made nearly three months ago, the developers have remained mum about the change until recently. Eamon O’Marah, a managing partner at Blue Chip Properties, acknowledged last month that the project would be adding a hotel component, but he declined to say which brand of hotel or how many rooms would be coming to 110 Westminster St.
Meanwhile, Blue Chip took out an ad in Providence Business News’ 2007 Book of Lists that shows a rendering of what appears to be the One Ten project, and proclaims that “incredible opportunities are in the works.”
O’Marah said that he had anticipated the project would be publicly relaunched sometime before Jan. 1.
Last year, the developers of One Ten had said that despite the other condominium projects, such as The Residences at The Westin Providence and WaterPlace, that were slated to come online in Providence, the market would still be able to absorb the combined 400 units their project would add.
O’Marah didn’t rule out the possibility of a change in the One Ten project, however. “We’re always looking at modifications and tweaks to the program to make it more successful,” he told PBN in September.
Critics of the recent push for condominium projects downtown may view the changing of the One Ten project as a sign of a slumping market. But University of Rhode Island economist Leonard Lardaro said that while he does have some concerns about the downtown projects, he doesn’t see many signs that they might fail.
Rhode Island – and Providence, in particular – has fared well in generating interest nationally, which could translate into buyers, Lardaro said. The desire of many baby boomers to return to the city after retiring will also aid the projects, he said.
However, with a housing market that he expects to continue to decline, both nationally and in Rhode Island, the first half of 2007, there could be some adjustments to condominium plans in the city.
“So far, things look extremely good, but they just look too good,” Lardaro said. “It just seems that the condominium prices got ahead of themselves here, more than they should have, and so some kind of correction is warranted.”
Statistics from the Rhode Island Association of Realtors seem to back Lardaro’s view of a healthy, but not booming, market in the city. Although the association has not released its year-end statistics for 2006, it reported in November that condo sales in Providence rose one unit from 2005, to 38 units sold during the first three-quarters of the year. That figure, which excludes East Side condo sales, came as the entire state saw a 13-percent dropoff through the first three quarters of 2006.
Meanwhile, though the developers are adding uses to the project, Granoff said he did not expect much to change in the appearance of One Ten. While the allocation of space between the condominiums and the hotel rooms had not yet been decided, Granoff said he expected the only major difference on the outside would be that, on the Westminster Street side of the building, the drive underneath the hotel would be less prominent, to allow for a more distinct “street presence” for the hotel.
“It’s pushing out onto the street more on Westminster,” he said. “But once you get above the street line, you won’t see any difference.”
The project is slated to be completed in the fall of 2008.
