PROVIDENCE – The Carpionato Group has withdrawn its interest in developing three parcels of land in the Interstate 195 Redevelopment District, I-195 Redevelopment District Commission Executive Director Peter McNally said Thursday.
Meanwhile, two other developments that had been competing for some of the same parcels on the East Side of the city are also in flux.
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The Carpionato project, presented to the commission in the spring of 2018, would have involved nearly 482,000 square feet of retail, residential, office and hotel space. The project, called The Row at College Hill, would have covered Parcels 2, 5 and 6 with 104 apartment units, a 70-room hotel and 203,000 square feet of wet-lab and office space.
Kelly Coates, the president and chief operating officer of the Johnston-based company, could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The project had received some criticism in a design evaluation submitted to the commission by its consultant, Utile Design. In its assessment, Utile said turning over three parcels to one developer could result in “a design monoculture that is inappropriate in an urban setting.”
The design consultants told the commission that Carpionato’s experience has almost exclusively been in suburban development of retail and housing.
McNally said the Carpionato Group informed the commission in writing of its intention to withdraw the proposal. He said he didn’t know why the company did so.
“They didn’t say why. They just withdrew on the three proposals,” he said.
The remaining developers for the East Side parcels are also reassessing their projects.
Post Road Residential, a Fairfield, Conn.-based development company that had proposed a 160-unit apartment building for Parcel 5, has withdrawn its application, and is instead looking at Parcel 28, which is located in the Jewelry District off Chestnut Street.
“They felt it would be better suited over there,” McNally said. “We think pretty highly of their capabilities.”
The project in that location could support a well-conceived building that is more dominated by apartments than retail, he said.
Spencer Providence, which had proposed a residential, retail and hotel development for Parcels 2 and 5, hasn’t withdrawn but is reconsidering the project, McNally said. The project had included 234 parking spaces over two parcels, with an underground parking floor planned beneath the development on Parcel 5.
Utile, the design adviser to the commission, had said this could add significant cost to the project.
“We don’t see that, as proposed, as viable with the underground parking,” McNally said.
The commission staff is working with them on something that might be better suited for one of the sites, he said.
Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com.
