PROVIDENCE – Local developer Patrick T. Conley has “informally” placed his Providence waterfront property on Allens Avenue on the market, he told Providence Business News today.
Conley proposed a hotel and condominium development in the heavy industrial area just north of Public Street, but the plan drew an outcry from some local businesses that feared the development and its new residents would drive them out.
The opponents formed the Providence Working Waterfront Alliance to lead the charge against the development, which became known as Providence Piers. The city also has not rezoned the area – a necessary step before Conley’s project could proceed.
On Monday, Conley said the opposition had become too much. “It seems as if I’m going to be tied up for a long time,” he said. “I think other developers coming in – whether it’s Boston or New York developers – they don’t have any baggage, they don’t have any enemies. So I think they would have a much better chance of moving forward than I.”
Conley was also unable to persuade the R.I. Department of Environmental Management to order the former land owner to clean up environmental contamination on the site.
Conley said he has approached a Boston physicians firm about turning the property into a medical office complex; offered to sell the land to the city; and spoken with a shipping company about using the area for short-sea shipping.
“I’m already 71 years old. I can’t wait until I’m 90 for it to be redeveloped,” Conley said.
The developer declined to disclose his asking price, other than to say he has spent $7 million on plans for the site and hopes to recoup at least that cost.
“That would be good lunch money,” he said.
