There are many questions that Hope Point tower forces Providence to ask itself.
One is whether this 600-foot tower belongs in a city long fiercely protective of its Colonial heritage. There is no question that the building would change the downtown skyline. Strong arguments can be made on both sides of that question, but a reluctance to embrace change is often given as a reason for Providence’s reputation as a difficult place to invest.
As odd as it seems, perhaps the larger question is whether the Fane Organization’s project would sell. According to one financial projection, Hope Point condominiums should be adjusted to no more than $800 per square foot. Compare that with the current average for downtown high-rise condominiums, about $400 per square foot, and you can see a big tower having to convert to apartments pretty quickly just to generate cash flow, much like the Residences and Waterplace were when they were completed just as the Great Recession hit.
Developer Jason Fane has an answer to that issue in an interview with PBN: “The 99.5% of naysayers, or people who choose to spend their money on other than new housing, they don’t count. It’s the half percent.”
While there is ample evidence that Rhode Island has real estate that can attract extremely well-heeled buyers – Jay Leno bought a waterfront palace for $13.5 million in 2017 – one wonders if there will be 448 buyers to fill the tower up.
In the end, of course, it’s about the financing. Fane’s support will not come on wishful thinking. So we will see if his pitch counts when it must.