Tax incentives are working

The programs represent an opportunity for economic development in places where it did not seem possible.

That was the gist of a daylong forum last month entitled “Revitalizing and Renewing Rhode Island” organized by Grow Smart Rhode Island and held at the R.I. Convention Center.

Those who attended the event heard from Arnold Chace Jr., a developer and president and CEO of Cornish Associates, the company that is renovating so many abandoned downtown properties and turning them into luxury apartments.

Chace’s next challenge is to build a retail foundation on the ground floor of those properties. It is a difficult challenge, but one Chace is confident he will meet, in part because of an Industrial/Commercial Tax Stabilization Program.

Traditional lenders, said Chace, have been slow to embrace development projects in such areas. But the tax incentives help and now the state seems to be gaining momentum for its support of historic tax incentive programs.

Chace called such incentives a “big boon” for development.

Seminar attendees also heard from Jeanne M. Boyle, director of planning in East Providence and Michael Cassidy, director of planning and redevelopment in Pawtucket. The city planners delivered a similar message.

In East Providence, there are 300 acres of coastline ready to be developed. One such opportunity is the former Ocean State Steel site, where 30 acres sit along the picturesque Seekonk River.

For years, environmental issues caused traditional lenders to shy away from proposals for development there. So the city bought the property itself.

Now the city has capitalized on an array of tax incentive programs, including a federal brownfields designation. Within weeks, East Providence is expected to break ground on a major housing, office, commercial and entertainment development. It promises to turn a blighted area into something special.

In Pawtucket, historic tax credits have helped earn the city a reputation for making renovated mill space available to both residential and commercial tenants.

Pawtucket was the first city in the state to have an Enterprise Zone, one that offers tax incentives for investors willing to turn something old into something new. The city is also now the home of the largest arts and entertainment district – 307 acres – in the state, an area that is flourishing largely because of the tax incentives offered to artists and others to locate there.

The examples in Providence, East Providence and Pawtucket are quietly playing out in other Rhode Island communities. Eyesores are being restored. Developments are taking place in places few would have thought possible.

These projects would not have happened without aggressive tax incentive programs.

Some of these programs are set to expire in the coming months. Typically, when they are established, it is for a set number of years. Government officials – at both the state and local levels – should be keeping a close eye on these programs, and where appropriate, present legislation or local ordinances to ensure that they continue.