E.P. waterfront panel OKs GeoNova’s East Pointe plans

EAST PROVIDENCE – The Waterfront Special Development District Commission Monday night gave its unanimous approval to GeoNova Development Co.’s plans for the East Point Project, at the former Ocean State Steel Co. site.
The panel granted GeoNova “overall approval for all four phases,” Jeanne M. Boyle, executive director of the Waterfront District, said in a Tuesday telephone interview, “and preliminary approval for phase one, [for which] they still need to submit architectural details.”
The company is now “essentially set to go for phase one,” Boyle said, at least so far as the city is concerned.
“This summer, they hope to start the first phase of construction next to Omega Pond, which is a freshwater wetland.” Various state approvals still are needed, she said, including that of the Coastal Resources Management Council, “but all these other agencies do require local approval first.”
“There are a number of approvals that are required,” Mary Voce, vice president of GeoNova, said in an e-mail interview today. Besides the CRMC, she listed the wetlands division of the R.I. Department of Environmental Management, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and others.
“Those will probably take at least two to three more months,” she said. “GeoNova must also submit detailed architectural, engineering and utilities plans prior to obtaining building permits.”
GeoNova’s plans for the site feature 495 units of housing, including townhouses, condominiums and single-family homes, according to the commission’s Web site, www.eastprovidencewaterfront.com. They also feature 49,000 square feet of office space, 33,250 square feet of retail and restaurant space, a public walkway along the waterfront, and open space along Omega Pond.
The site adds: “The redevelopment of this property will contribute to changing the waterfront’s image from an industrially dominated landscape to that of a mixed-use New England village.”
The city and GeoNova have already tackled the site’s cleanup, winning Brownfields Project of the Year honors from the Environmental Business Council of New England.
“Aside from the demolition and remediation, considerable engineering and architectural work has already been done and preliminary submissions have been made to the other agencies from which permits will be required,” Voce said.
“GeoNova has also retained Cushman & Wakefield [of Boston] to identify and negotiate with developers for the actual building phase of the project.”