INTERVIEW
Patrick A. Rogers
Position: Chairman, East Providence Waterfront Commission; also a partner at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge.
Background: A Rumford resident and City Council member in East Providence from 1998 to 2004, Rogers was appointed by Gov. Donald L. Carcieri in 2004 to chair the newly created East Providence Waterfront Commission. He comes with diverse experience, not only as a city official and a corporate and business lawyer. Right after college, he spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer building a school in Gabon, Central Africa. He also served as an aide to the late U.S. Sen. John H. Chafee for five years in Washington, D.C.
Education: A.B. in English, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, Mass., 1986; J.D., The Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, 1994.
Residence: East Providence
Age: 41
The City of East Providence has embraced an ambitious goal: to take a 14-mile stretch of land along its waterfront, much of it contaminated and littered with vacant industrial sites and oil terminals, and turn it into a thriving, beautiful mixed-use district.
The blueprint for the new, 500-acre district is a master plan that relies on private developers to transform the land, with oversight and support from a new 18-member commission created by special legislation in 2003.
With the first project, the Ross Commons condominiums, already completed, and several more under way, commission chairman Patrick Rogers talked with PBN about what lies ahead.
PBN: What’s the makeup of the commission?
ROGERS: About half – fewer than half – are residents of East Providence. The others are gubernatorial appointments. … The intent was to make sure it was not a parochial, narrow board, but a broad-based, diversified board of professionals. … We have an architect, a banker, several small-business owners, a developer, a retiree – those are voting members. We also have representatives from the state [Department of Transportation], [Department of Environmental Management] and [Economic Development Corporation], and city officials. The whole concept was twofold: a high-quality, professional, competent board [that is] nonpolitical. And second, one-stop shopping, so a developer could come in and meet with our board, pose questions and hear whether there are any environmental issues, any transportation issues, utility issues, any economic development incentives.
PBN: You’ve been operating for two years?
ROGERS: We had our first meeting two years ago … and the model was kind of a super-charged Capital Center Commission. We wanted to take the best of that and empower it even more so that for development along the waterfront, not only are we involved in design, but also in permitting and any type of approvals that are necessary on a municipal level can be granted by our commission. It’s a way to streamline the process.
PBN: It’s a very big district.
ROGERS: It winds its way throughout the entire length of East Providence … along about 14 miles, and covers about 500 acres. Of those, about 300 are truly developable parcels, many of them large – anywhere from 15 to 50 acres. So we’re blessed with lots of large, contiguous parcels ready to be developed.
PBN: How much of that land is brownfields?
ROGERS: A huge percentage of it … but that actually is a positive, because there are federal and state laws that encourage development in brownfields. … Most of the properties in East Providence are former petroleum depots or storage facilities, and most of have left and pulled out, and many have removed the tanks from the sites. So you’re left with the contamination, but at least you don’t have to evict an operating business.
PBN: The biggest project so far is the $200 million, 27-acre Ocean State Steel rehab by the GeoNova Corp. How’s that going?
ROGERS: That’s going fabulously well. Two highlights there: The steel mill has been completely removed, it’s been completely cleaned, and [late last month], the DEM gave what is called a certificate of compliance … which means that the two-year remediation process has been a success.
PBN:What’s going to be built there?
ROGERS: It’s just beginning the regulatory approval process, so there will be lots of public comment, but the initial submission is for about 495 units, a mixture of commercial and retail and residential. It includes a restaurant, a public park and a walkway around the perimeter of the property, which is waterfront along the Seekonk River. As far as revenue to the city, the initial projections are, on an annual basis, upon full build-out, the city will net about $3 million a year in new tax revenue, which is a huge infusion of new capital.
PBN: Are tax breaks or other government supports involved?
ROGERS: Yes. With the GeoNova project, Senator [Jack] Reed and Senator Chafee were critical in finding $5 million in federal loans and grants to finance the remediation of that property – so federal support was absolutely essential. … That was sort of a unique opportunity, though. Other projects are viable on their own without any federal support.
PBN: How crucial is the GeoNova project to the district’s success?
ROGERS: I think GeoNova has been a very positive catalyst, but I also think the East Providence waterfront development is much bigger than this. Many other projects are advancing. … For instance, Aspen Aerogels has purchased and will later this year occupy a new industrial site on the waterfront in a former abandoned building. Picerne Development is moving forward to purchase a property on the Providence River formerly owned by Chevron. … The Tockwotton Home has purchased land to relocate to our waterfront [from Providence]. … There is also another major development that’s going to be announced later this year on property that is 30-plus acres.
PBN: How much infrastructure do you need to build to support these projects?
ROGERS: That’s critical. Fortunately, there are sewer and infrastructure connections throughout most of the waterfront. … However, traffic continues to be a challenge and a concern, particularly as you get to areas that are really being opened up for the first time.
There is, starting later this year, the construction of Waterfront Drive, which is a federally funded, state-managed project south of the Washington Bridge that will help open up the southern part of the waterfront. … Going north, there are plans for waterfront drives, expansion to that area, but that is probably several years away.
