They just couldn’t leave it alone. That’s a shame.
We’re talking about Rhode Island’s Historic Preservation Investment Tax Credit program, a tax incentive initiative that has been luring developers from across the country here to refurbish abandoned warehouses and neglected properties in our urban neighborhoods, turning them into beautiful living spaces.
Seifert Systems Invests in Energy Efficiency to Strengthen Operations
For manufacturers, energy is more than just another operating expense. It plays a critical role…
Learn More
In fact, it has been such a success that our lawmakers initially considered abandoning it. They scrapped that foolish idea, only to once again set the program in their sights – this time to attach a prohibitive processing fee to it, and making it retroactive at that. All of this in an attempt to squeeze revenues out of developers who are doing so much to return so many injured properties to good health.
Just this spring, Grow Smart Rhode Island received a report from Lipman Frizzell & Mitchell, a Maryland-based consultant that confirms something we have long known. This Historic Preservation Investment Tax Credit program is a real winner.
So much of the development we are witnessing in and around downtown Providence, as well as in other cities and towns, is a direct result of developers taking advantage of this program. Without it, much of the building – and jobs related to it – would not be happening. Among the LF&M report’s findings is that the historic tax credit program has resulted in 111 total projects representing $484.9 million in investments.
The processing fees now attached to the program will surely serve as a deterrent. And the very idea of attaching such fees in mid-stream – while projects are under construction – is simply unfair.
The Historic Preservation Investment Tax Credit program has meant so much to Rhode Island – both in creating jobs and restoring properties. Any measure that waters it down is a shortsighted and foolish endeavor.
Move the Division of Motor Vehicles
There is talk of moving the much-maligned Division of Motor Vehicles from Pawtucket, where it has resided for the past 10 years, to Cranston, at the site of a former Ro-Jack’s supermarket on Plainfield Pike. We hope this move takes place sooner rather than later, because it makes sense for all parties involved.
For the state, the Ro-Jack’s location is the most affordable of a handful of alternatives, among them a new building at the former Narragansett Brewery property off Route 10. The former Ro-Jack’s offers plenty of space – 46,000 square feet – on one level and lots of parking. In addition, highway access on and off Plainfield Pike is excellent. In general, it’s about as centrally located as you can get in Rhode Island.
Customers who must brave a visit to the DMV should be pleased with the new location.
As for the city of Pawtucket … well, officials there don’t seem all that upset to see the DMV leave their newly energized downtown. When the DMV arrived, there was hope that the 1,500 to 2,000 visitors there per day would provide a spark to the local economy. They never did. After all, do you feel like shopping after getting out of the DMV?
