Brown’s land of opportunity: University’s expansion is welcomed but is school paying its fair share?

NEIGHBORHOOD PRIDE: Olin Thompson, a ­Jewelry District resident and amateur historian, points to the architectural features on a stone building at 110 Elm St. that was once a foundry and is now leased by Brown University for administrative and medical offices. 
PBN PHOTO/CLAUDIA CHIAPPA
NEIGHBORHOOD PRIDE: Olin Thompson, a ­Jewelry District resident and amateur historian, points to the architectural features on a stone building at 110 Elm St. that was once a foundry and is now leased by Brown University for administrative and medical offices. 
PBN PHOTO/CLAUDIA CHIAPPA

Olin Thompson’s Jewelry District walking tour begins at the corner of Richmond and Ship streets in Providence, on a plaza covered in stepped, wooden decking and stone pavers designed to be an inviting gathering place. It’s a convenient starting point for the two-hour tour in which Thompson, an amateur historian, takes visitors through the dynamic

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4 COMMENTS

  1. I don’t get Goncalves thinking. Here he says the city is in a “housing crisis” and then turns around and is against further residential development in the I-195 district. Actually this double talk is a natural by-product of a “transactional” mentality focused on the blame game when what the City pf Providence needs in its leadership is so much more depth.

  2. It’s a challenge to say what is specifically Brown’s fair share except that it should be more given growth of Brown’s real estate holdings in the district and inflation. It’s useful to benchmark what “the in lieu of taxes” payments are by other universities and cities similar to Brown/Providence.

    Here is a 2021 news release relevant to issue: “Yale is extending its lead as the institution that makes the largest annual voluntary contribution of any U.S. university to its home city,” Salovey said of adding $10 million to the university’s existing $13 million annual contribution.

    Using a reasoned and balance approach, realize that Yale has an endowment that dwarfs Brown’s. Also that Harvard, far richer than Yale, pays Boston/Cambridge on a level more equivalent to Brown.