Arnold B. “Buff” Chace Jr. continues to put his stamp on Providence’s downtown.
The property development company Cornish Associates LP – where Chace is managing partner – already owned numerous downtown properties, but after Cornish teamed with Boston-based Nordblom Co. to buy The Providence Journal building on Fountain Street and a parking lot across the street in 2015, Chace suddenly had new highly visible assets to work with.
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Cornish and Nordblom set about updating the once-dated interior of the Journal building, drawing high-quality tenants to the landmark four-story office building. The brick exterior remains largely unchanged.
The building now houses the corporate headquarters of Virgin Pulse Inc., which leases two floors and has about 350 employees. India-based technology giant Infosys Ltd. has opened a design and innovation hub on the first floor, and GE Digital rents offices on the third floor, bringing new life to a building that had not been fully utilized as The Providence Journal downsized its operations. The Journal leases most of the second floor of its former headquarters.
In addition, Chace’s Cornish Associates and Nordblom have filled what for decades was a gaping space between Fountain and Washington streets, constructing the Nightingale, a $55 million, six-story apartment building that fills an entire city block that had been a parking lot.
That project and Cornish’s recent renovation of three historic buildings along Westminster and Mathewson streets to create more ground-floor commercial space and upstairs living space have changed the complexion of the downtown streets while still maintaining the district’s character.
