PROVIDENCE – The unnamed financial services firm tied to the winning development proposal for former I-195 land has revealed itself.
Bank Rhode Island on Wednesday announced its plans to open a new, corporate headquarters on riverfront land in Fox Point. The 58,000-square-foot offices are part of a larger, $70 million development project which will also include mixed-income apartments, retail and an indoor parking garage.
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The project by Providence developer D+P Real Estate Inc. was one of two proposals submitted to the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission for the vacant land known as Parcel 8/8A. The commission in September picked D+P as its preferred developer over a competing pitch for a 10-story tower of luxury condominiums. At the time, several commission members highlighted the corporate headquarters as a boon for D+P’s proposal.
“Locating BankRI’s new corporate headquarters in the I-195 Development District aligns perfectly with the mission of the District,” Robert Davis, chairman of the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission, said in a statement. “We appreciate the commitment BankRI is making to Providence with this project and know that developments like this one will drive interest in the District and help us to drive economic growth in the area.”
As the preferred developer, D+P’s project is not guaranteed, but now will be reviewed in more detail, with several additional approvals required before it can be built.
If all goes as planned, construction is expected to start in the summer 2023.
BankRI, a subsidiary of Boston-based Brookline Bancorp Inc., has run its headquarters out of two floors of Turks Head Building in downtown Providence for more than 15 years. The company has “outgrown the space,” but plans to keep its first-floor retail branch in that building, Michael Cerio, a bank spokesman, said in an email.
As of June 2021, Bank Rhode Island had the fifth-largest share of deposits in Rhode Island at $2.7 billion, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. It has 20 branches in Rhode Island, according to PBN’s 2022 Book of Lists.
The project will be the first ground-up corporate office built in Providence in more than a decade, BankRI said.
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Lavin@PBN.com.
