The Capitol Cove development that twice has stalled because of union picketing will be completed with new bidding guidelines, which are to be in place for the second half of the first phase of construction, the city and developer announced last week.
Under the new agreement, developer Robert Roth – whose Capitol Cove LLC is building the $250 million development, starting with a 249-unit residential complex along Canal Street – has agreed to work exclusively with contractors that are affiliated with state-registered apprenticeship programs, said Greg Mancini, executive director of BuildRI, an alliance of unions and contractors.
“Under this agreement, the developer will get his taxes stabilized, the contractors of the building trades will have an opportunity to be on the job, and the residents of the city will have the opportunity to gain access and training for new employment opportunities on the project,” Mancini said at a press conference last week. “This is a win-win-win situation.”
The new guidelines ensure that because workers will be enrolled in union apprenticeship programs, Mancini said. “They will have future career opportunities long after this job is completed.”
Much of the debate regarding the development during the past two months had been about whether the project’s tax-stabilization terms were violated when Roth hired nonunion subcontractors. City councilors asked the Providence Internal Auditor and Law Department to review the development.
Before that review began, picketing union workers allegedly slashed tires and threw equipment into the river at the job site.
Those picket lines led city councilors to review the language in the tax-stabilization agreements. Last week, Roth said city councilors and he agreed that code has to be tightened so that developers and the city have a mutual understanding of the terms. And, he said, the council and he agreed on the two main strengths of the tax-stabilization program: local labor hiring goals and creating financially feasible developments.
Council Majority Leader Terrence Hassett said that the development will serve as an “example,” so that “other developments will learn that we do take tax stabilization plans and their provisions seriously.”
Hassett and City Council President Peter Mancini both touted the new agreement as a well-orchestrated accord that will lead to further reviews of the tax-stabilization policy.
“This is a big day for the City of Providence,” Peter Mancini said, adding: “The true purpose of tax stabilizations is to allow the development of properties that otherwise would be very difficult, possibly impossible, to develop. But in the long run, when we do use tax stabilizations, it’s able to result in very long-term economic benefits for the city.”
For Capitol Cove, the first of three construction phases, which includes two condo complexes and an extension of the Providence Riverwalk, is expected to be completed in November 2008, Roth said.
Before the bidding cycle for the second building of phase one begins, the new agreement and the tax-stabilization language will be examined further.
“The resolution reached between the state’s building trades and the developers of Capitol Cove represents a critical first step in this process,” Mayor David N. Cicilline said in a statement. “As I expressed to the Rhode Island building trades and developer Robert Roth in recent meetings, the next step will be to ensure that this agreement is consistent with the terms and conditions set forth by the tax-stabilization agreement and our goal of creating jobs for Providence residents.” •
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