The Foundry Corporation is four months away from opening its first major residential development – 220 upscale apartments, including a gym and pool – in the old manufacturing complex.
The apartments will occupy three of the 12 buildings in the Foundry, where there are currently eight office buildings. The remaining building, the former Brown & Sharpe building (nearest to Route 95), could be converted into multi-family living space, the complex’s developer said, but the market will dictate its use.
“We’ve done eight office buildings but we’ve never done residential before,” said Tony Thomas, a principal of the corporation, after recently leading a tour of the buildings with corporation and city officials. “We’re putting 37 years of hard work on the line here.”
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
The residential redevelopment, called The Promenade Apartments, will include lofts and one- and two-bedroom apartments ranging in size from 550 to 1,970 square feet. There will also be a community media room and 445-space parking garage. Rental rates for the apartments will range from $1,000 to $3,000 per month. The apartments are expected to be ready in May.
The apartments have been under construction for at least a year-and-a-half, Thomas said, and prior to that, workers had to recondition the three buildings – replace windows, clean up lead paint – and build the parking garage behind the complex facing north. The end result, according to Thomas, will be the realization of a revitalized complex that Foundry Corporation Chairman Antonio Guerra envisioned almost four decades ago, along with his son Tom Guerra. “Tom carried out the vision,” Thomas said.
The Foundry has hired Barkan Management Company Inc., of Middleton, Mass., to handle leasing and marketing for the apartments.
“We’re targeting anyone who’s looking to be a renter,” Maryellen King, director of marketing and leasing at Barkan. “The (units) are designed to attract everyone. There will be 80 different unit types, and no one is the same.”
King said people can start reserving apartments, as long as they’re willing to be flexible with construction schedules and the opening date.
Fleet and Webster banks financed a portion of the estimated $50 million project, which also secured private investments, as well as federal and state historic tax credits. The parking garage will utilize a separate tax stabilization program.
The lap pool has a retractable roof and the parking garage is connected to the rest of the complex by a covered bridge. A glass wall will separate the pool area from the courtyard in the center of the complex, which all residents will have a view of, Thomas said.
There will also be a movie and media room adjacent to the fitness center, and old wash basins and other equipment found in the buildings will be incorporated into a water feature in the courtyard, he said. Each apartment will have views of the State House and city.
Providence-based Robinson Green Beretta is the architect and Cranston-based O. Ahlborg & Sons Inc. is the contractor.
“We had a mixed-use plan all along,” Thomas said. “Originally, we contemplated major retail, offices and a hotel, but after the mall, necessity for retail declined. But there is so much demand (now) for residential growth.”
The Promenade is the latest in a string of upscale apartment complexes built in the capital city during the past couple of years, including the Jefferson at Providence Place Apartments right across the street. But Thomas said he’s not concerned with competition.
“Each project has its own niche,” he said. “Some people will look at Jefferson and like that and some people will look at us and like us.”
The Foundry’s apartments are the next phase of what officials hope is a revitalization of the Promenade District, which also includes plans to clean up the river in that area and the restoration and redevelopment of the old Farmer’s Market across the street from The Promenade.
