Developer of new apartment building seeks 20-year tax agreement

A RENDERING OF Edge College Hill Two, a new apartment building proposed for the base of College Hill in Providence. / COURTESY DBVW ARCHITECTS

PROVIDENCE – A new apartment building proposed for the base of College Hill could receive a 20-year phase-in of city property taxes, under a proposal moving through the Providence City Council.

The council last week approved a first reading of the ordinance. The tax stabilization agreement for the Steeple Street RI LLC project will require a second reading and vote before it moves to the mayor’s office for approval.

The council’s vote came over the objections of several council members, who questioned why the city would provide such a lengthy tax stabilization period. The taxes would be phased in beginning with the 2017 tax year and ending Dec. 31, 2036.

Councilman Nicholas Narducci Jr., who represents several North End neighborhoods, said TSAs should be designed to spur community development.

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“At what point in time do we stop giving the big-time developers the breaks and start worrying about our small businesses that are fighting in our communities to stay alive?” he said

The project, called Edge College Hill Two, will be placed at 131 Canal St. and provide several hundred apartments. The project design, approved earlier this year by the Downtown Design Review Committee, would feature three section heights, of 11, five and three stories.

The existing site is a parking lot.

Councilman John Igliozzi, chairman of the finance committee, said the project involves $63 million in private investment and will provide a tax boost to the city once the taxes are phased in completely.

“We’re going from a [nominally] taxable empty parking lot to a $63 million investment,” he said.

Mary MacDonald is a staff writer for the PBN. Contact her at macdonald@pbn.com.

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