The transformation of the former Sockanosset Boys Training School into Chapel View, an upscale mixed-use complex with shops, restaurants, offices and condominiums, is almost complete, with some tenants already moved in and many more expected in the spring.
The project, which combines new construction with the rehabilitation and reuse of the Training School’s long-abandoned “cottages” and chapel, covers 30 acres on a hilltop in Cranston near the intersection of Routes 2 and 37.
Kelly M. Coates, senior vice president of Carpionato Properties Inc., the project’s Johnston-based developer, said three businesses have opened at Chapel View in recent weeks, and as many as 15 more are expected to begin opening in late March.
In addition, about 50 high-end residential condos will go on sale this spring, Coates said.
“The whole project is just coming along; it’s gelling,” he said.
The first major tenant was Shaw’s Supermarkets, which replaced its Garden City Center store with a 70,000-square-foot store at Chapel View. More recently, Ted’s Montana Grill, a restaurant chain owned by media mogul Ted Turner, and Bombay, an upscale home goods store, have moved in.
Recreational Equipment Inc., an outdoor clothing and equipment retailer, plans to open a two-story, 27,500-square-foot store at Chapel View on March 15. And U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, whose Rhode Island office is now in Garden City, is expected to relocate his office by March, Coates said, where he will be joined on the second floor of the Stone Cottage by a state government office.
Other retailers and restaurants expected to open by April 1 include the women’s clothing stores ZuZu’s Petals and Villa de Moda Boutique, restaurant chains Pei Wei Asian Diner, Omaha Steaks and Johnny Rockets, and a Cold Stone Creamery ice cream shop.
Several other commercial tenants also have signed leases or are expected to soon, and they would open in the spring, according to the developer. The occupant of the chapel, a signature location in the complex, will be announced soon, Coates said – a “high-end Italian restaurant.”
The entire project is expected to be completed by the end of the year, Coates said.
Chapel View is what is known as a “lifestyle center,” an open-air, mixed-use development model that is becoming increasingly common in retail development across the nation.
Coates said that incorporating residential and office components into a shopping center, and designing the development to look and function like a town square, attracts tenants who want the convenience of dining and shopping without driving, as well as shoppers looking for a more authentic urban shopping experience than indoor malls offer.
“If you are an office tenant, the compelling advantage is you don’t need a car to go to lunch – you can go downstairs to get a newspaper or a drink after work, you can entertain clients on the premises,”
Coates said. “It has the benefits of an urban setting but you still have parking right at your door. It has a lot of same appeal for residential users, who like the opportunity to live somewhere vibrant, but who are hesitant about urban issues like safety. From a retailer standpoint, they can identify themselves with a sense of place.”
Chapel View’s 50 or so condominiums, which will range in price from about $400,000 to “north of $1 million,” according to Coates, are expected to attract empty nesters from Rhode Island’s affluent suburbs seeking to live in smaller homes nearer to the city.
At the same time, Chapel View’s village format and its proximity to other successful stores and restaurants at Garden City Center, across Sockanosset Cross Road, as well as to an office complex anchored by Citizens Bank, made it especially attractive to retailers outside the local market, Coates said.
Aside from Ted Turner, other heavyweight investors behind some of the retail stores opening at Chapel View include Ned Grace, founder of The Capital Grille and Hemenway’s, Johnny Rockets founder Lloyd Sugarman and the real estate mogul Steve Karp, he said.
“There’s a special synergy that goes on when you mix office, retail and residential,” Coates said. “Each component becomes stronger than it ordinarily would be.”
